Blind
by PedroJLife
Summary: Amber Kartori was just an average sixteen year old girl. Well, for the most part anyway. But when she is met face to face with two arrancar, her life is spun upside down as she comes to learn about the true horrors of the world.
1. The Day My Life Changed

**Hey people! :) So this is my first story of Bleach, centred around my OC. Actually, I started to write this story on Wattpad but I thought I would put it up here just for fun. I have changed it a little, just grammar and putting in more description. But since it's on Wattpad, I'll be putting chapters up pretty quickly until I am where I am on Wattpad.**

 **So yeah, hope you enjoy :)**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.**

* * *

Amber Kartori was just an average sixteen year old girl. Well, for the most part anyway. But when she is met face to face with two arrancar, her life is spun upside down as she comes to learn about the true horrors of the world.

* * *

 **Chapter One - The Day My Life Changed**

* * *

 _We fear that which we cannot see_

 _We respect that which we cannot see_

 _Thus the blade will be wielded_

 _\- Tite Kubo, Bleach_

* * *

"Oi Amber! get up, or you will be late for school" Mum yelled.

I opened my eyes a little to see the warm sun shinning through my bedroom window, it so peace full in the mornings. Ahhh, can't be stuffed getting up maybe if I pretend I didn't hear her...

"And don't pretend that you cant hear me Amber, get up now or I will come up there and rip the blankets off of you."

"Coming!" I yelled back while getting out of bed. I went over to my dresser and continued to get changed as swiftly as I could. I decide to wear a baggy shirt with a pair of blue skinny jeans and my converse. I was never was the type of girl that would get all dressed up, especially for school. Give me a dress and I'll chuck it out the window, just give me something comfy and I am good to go. I continued on to the bathroom and quickly washed my face and did my hair. I liked my hair, it was a dark brown colour, I had a fringe that covered a little bit of my right eye and two pieces of hair that framed the side of my face, the rest was in a medium size ponytail because I hate it when hair gets in my face. While on the topic of things I like I also liked my eyes, they were a dark bluish, greyish colour with yellow specks, well for now anyway. They always seem to change colour. But I realised I had been staring at myself for way too long so I quickly grabbed my bag from my room and ran down the stairs.

"Morning, Mum, Dad, Sam." I greeted my family, turning sharply at the corner of the stairs and rushing to the table.

"Morning!" They all replied simultaneously.

"Soo... What's for breakfast?" I asked whilst sitting down at the table.

"Nothing if you don't get your elbows off the table!" Mum exclaimed.

I took my elbows off the table and a plate of toast and some orange juice were placed in front off me. I ate my food rather swiftly and than got up to leave.

"Okay, lets go!"

"Oh, by the way, it's just you and me today sweetie " Mum said, grabbing her coat and walking towards the door.

"Oh how come" I asked, grabbing my bag and heading over towards her.

"Sam isn't feeling well so he is staying home today." She explained, opening the door slightly and stepping out into the chilly air.

"Oh, hope you get better soon Sam." I yelled back at my little brother, I was sure it wasn't serious, he often got sick, probably just a cold.

"Thanks." he grumbled.

I pushed the thought out of my mind and arrived at school early, as usual. Mum went to work early so I had to be at school early. Usually I would talk to my brother for a while until my friends got here, but that wasn't the case today so I just stood at the lockers and waited.

"Hey!" Said a familiar voice.

I turned around to see Olivia running up to me, panting and out of breath.

"Hey." I greeted, taking my hands out of my pockets and giving her a brief wave. "What are you doing here so early, and why are you panting?" I asked her.

"One, change of scenery and two, running away from David." She answered in panted breaths.

"David's here too?" I asked in astonishment. Both of them weren't usually here this early, so it came a surprise to me that not only Olivia but David was here too!

"Yeah, anyway how long have you been here by yourself?"

"Five minutes." I shrugged.

"Why didn't go find someone to talk to?"

"..."

"To shy aren't ya!"

"AM NOT!"

"Yeah well prove it then, go talk to that guy over there."

"Okay you got me."

"Ha ha! I don't see how you can be so loud on the soccer field but so quiet when you have to simply go talk to someone."

It was true, my personality is just messed up, I am quiet, but loud, shy, but confident, I don't know why I'm like that I just am. Between school and soccer, I am a completely different person. Another thing that surprises people is the way I look too. I am tall and skinny, people never imagine me playing sport type of person or just think I am some sort of gumby. Ha ha how wrong they are. I am actually really athletic and surprisingly strong for what I look, I hold countless school records and always get picked in teams, (if they know me or else I get picked last.) Of course, that's about they only thing I can do. I can't draw and don't have a single musical bone in my body, and school, well, lets not go there but the laws the law and I have to attend school.

"Amber, Olivia, Hey." Waved David as he ran over to us.

"Hey." We replied.

"Caught ya!" David grinned, while patting Olivia's head.

"Oi cut it out yo twit!" Scowled Olivia as she tried desperately to remove David's hand from her head.

I couldn't but smile at my two best friends and their petty arguments. We had been together since Primary School, through thick and thin, I couldn't think of anything that would tear us apart.

"Hey Amber, what classes do we have first?" David asked, pulling me out of my thoughts

I jerked quickly from my thoughts, before catching my composure and rummaging in my bag for my timetable. I often was of in 'la la land' so much my friends didn't bother to comment on it whenever I seemed to dose off, it was just 'Amber going at it again.'

"Hmm let me see" I said whilst pulling my timetable out of my bag, "English, then Maths."

"Ahhhh, I hate English." David whined.

"Me too." I agreed.

"Well come on guys, even though you hate the class doesn't mean we can be late, plus Mr Thomas is a really good teacher" Said Olivia.

"True" I replied.

* * *

Class I had finished and it was lunch, I went to sit with my normal group of friends.

"Hey!" I said as I joined the circle.

"Hey we were just wondering where you were." Said David.

"Yeah, I got kept behind in class for not doing my homework."

"You really should get onto that." Josie mumbled, taking another bite out of her sandwich.

"Oi! it's not my fault I just miss when he gives out homework!."

"Sure, sure."

"It's TRUE!"

"All right calm down you two," David said, trying to break the tension.

The group lapsed into silence for a while as we sat and ate our food, no one bothering to make conversation. I didn't mind the silence. I wasn't a big talker anyway.

"Are you coming to soccer practice tonight Amb's?" David asked, breaking the silence.

I took a bite out of my sandwich before replying. "Yeah, are you?"

He shook his head. "Nah, can you tell coach I have work?"

"Yeah sure." I mumbled taking another bite out of my sandwich. "By the way, where is Noah and Kate today?" I asked, looking around to see if I had missed them, but we had a pretty small group of friends, it was pretty easy to notice if someone was missing.

"Sick." Replied Olivia.

"Really? Everyone is getting sick, my younger brother got they day off school today because his sick-"

I was cut off by a large crashing sound in the distance, the sound of shattering glass filled my ears in a high pitched scream, sending chills down my spine and an immediate feeling of dread.

"Oi, what was that?" Asked Olivia, in a worried tone.

"Mmm, dunno sounded like glass." Said David.

"Well lets go check it out."

We all got up and walked over to where we heard the sound. We heard lot's of screaming and gasping.

"Sounds pretty serious, hopefully no ones hurt." David frowned.

"Or they're just overreacting." Josie replied in a neutral tone.

We continued to walk in silence turning the corner we were met with the scene of shattered glass everywhere. The whole window of a secondary storey classroom had been smashed, a few people had been injured, but it looked like nothing too serious.

"Good looks like everyone's okay." Olivia sighed in relief.

"Yeah." I replied softly, not taking my eyes off the scene. I was glad everyone was okay, but I still had a bad feeling, every instinct in my body was tingling, I took a deep breath to compose myself.

'Nothings wrong, Nothings wrong.' I chanted in my head, hoping that the feeling would go away. It was probably just the sudden shock… Yeah that was it, the sudden shock of hearing glass shattered just put me off. Nothings wrong, every thing's fine, everyone's alright.

"We should go check though." Proposed David.

My stomach clenched further and chills ran throughout my body, showing no signs of stopping. Why am I feeling this way! My bones are tingling, my skin is crawling, my heart is beating so hard against my chest. I have never felt this way before.

"Yeah, Amber ya coming?" Asked Olivia.

Danger... Danger.

"Amber, you okay?"

Danger...

A high pitched scream filled my ears leaving every other sound around me nothing but a distant mumble. The scream shattered my ears, making me clutch them in agony and fall to the ground, eye's closed shut.

Taking deep breaths I calmed my body so it was only shaking a little. I first opened my eyes, then took my hands off my ears, welcoming the dead silence that seemed to fill the air. Lastly I put my hands on the cold concrete, perking myself up and taking a good look at the world around me, but what came I didn't expect in the slightest.

"Huh? Wha... What?" I sputtered at my surroundings.

The courtyard was filled with bodies, upon bodies lying on the ground, not moving an inch, like everyone had just suddenly fell asleep. And when I meant everyone had collapsed I meant _everyone_. My friends, other students, teachers, the list goes on, were just lying in the middle of the yard without a care in the world, showing no signs of waking. The thought dawned on me that I was the only one standing, I didn't know why I was standing, but I decided to push the thought to the back of my mind.

I pushed my hands off the ground and stood up, wobbling a bit to catch my balance, then, another feeling swept through my being. The feeling of fear was still there, that hadn't changed, but a new feeling had came to add to the previous one. I felt a pulling force in my chest, like something was desperately trying to pull something from inside me, but it felt blocked by a wall or something. This all seemed too strange be to be real, but after pinching myself, I was sure this wasn't a dream. It was real, very real.

I walked over to David who happened to be the one closets to me, and shook him in an attempt to wake him up.

"David, David! Wake up"

No response.

I'm not sure why but I hesitantly put two of my fingers on his neck, just below his jaw to check for a pulse.

1, 2… Nothing.

3, 4… Nothing.

My breath hitched as I put my ear to his mouth to listen to his breathing… Nothing.

"Wha... What. He can't be dead we were talking just a minute ago!"

Looking around I noticed something I hadn't before, sure they were all still, but they were _too_ still. There was no rising chest or movement to show they were sleeping. No, they were still, still as in _dead_.

I clenched my shirt in my fists and fell to my knees as a lone wet tear rolled down my cheeks and onto the ground. I wanted to wake up now, this had to be a dream nothing on this scale could of happened, not here, not now, not to my friends.

"Oi looks like one survived."

I jerk my head to the side and stood up. About five meters away are two funny looking men. The first one is huge. He looks 7ft tall and is wide, the other one is normal size, but they don't look human. The big one has a long white tail that splits off into about 8 tentacles. He has a mask covering half his face with a Black line. He has dark purple hair and a big nose. The other men had his mask covering his mouth and chin. He has jet black hair that goes down to his shoulders and dark grey eyes. They both have a hole through the centre of their chest. It is nothing like I have ever seen.

"Wh-Who are you?" I stuttered.

"Ehh, who are we, why would we tell a human what who we are." Said the large man.

"Shigeru, stop playing with your food." Said the other man.

"Wait, food. You plan to eat me! What did you do to my friends!" I half yelled/asked.

"Talkative one here ehh, of course I plan to eat you, and your friends... are dead." Smirked the one named Shigeru.

"Dead." My heart stopped, I couldn't breathe. Dead, just like that, who are these guys, what did they do? Although I had came to the same conclusion, hearing it from someone else made it ten times worse.

"Although I am surprised you can stand, you must have a good amount of reistu, although I can't feel any from you, you are doing a very good job at suppressing it, are you a Shinigami?" Asked the smaller man.

"A Shinigami? What the hell are you talking about!" I asked, brining myself out of my mind and focussing all my attention the two strange men in front of me.

"You're not? Oh well, it didn't matter anyway, she will be a tasty meal Shigeru. Goodbye, Human."

Shigeru's tail lurched towards me. Instinct took over and I pushed myself into a sprint, but the tail was too fast. I felt the tail coil around me and tighten around my chest, squeezing the air out of my lungs. It felt like my lungs were going to burst, I could hardly breathe. I look up, now, I am only a meter away from Shigeru's face, up close it is truly terrifying. His tail starts to glow orange and the same sucking feeling came over me again, though more centred were the tail pressed against my body. But like before, there's something in the way of him achieving his goal, like a wall or something. But even if he can't suck out the thing in my body, I will surly lose consciousness from the lack of oxygen and then I will really be done for. I look up at the man, his eyes are huge with shock.

"WHY CAN'T I TAKE YOUR REIATSU, ANSWER ME HUMAN!" He screams chucking me onto ground.

I land on my side and skid about three metres. My shoulder began to sting and pain erupted throughout my arm. Gritting me teeth, I propped myself back up and turned to the monster.

"I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT!" I yelled, not caring about the consequences.

"THATS IT, YOU ARE PISSING ME OFF YOU ARE FINISHED!"

His tail comes down and I brace for impact.


	2. Sucking Out Reiatsu

_"WHY CAN'T I TAKE YOUR REIATSU, ANSWER ME HUMAN!" He screams chucking me onto ground._

 _I land on my side and skid about three metres. My shoulder began to sting and pain erupted throughout my arm. Gritting me teeth, I propped myself back up and turned to the monster._

 _"I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT!" I yelled, not caring about the consequences._

 _"THATS IT, YOU ARE PISSING ME OFF YOU ARE FINISHED!"_

 _His tail comes down and I brace for impact._

* * *

 **Chapter Two - Sucking Out Reiatsu**

* * *

One, two, three seconds passed... But nothing happened. My eyes are glued together tightly, and I'm unable to move anything, even my breath is short and shallow, like it would stop at any time.

 _Am I dead?_

I feel no pain, his tail must have hit me by now, or maybe this is what death feels like? I thought it would be a lot more painful, but it is actually quite relaxing.

"Oi kid, you hurt?" A voice called out to me, bringing me back to the world around me.

My eyes shot open, all the pain came rushing back, shooting through my body in less than a second, but I wasn't dead. Standing in front of me, was a man blocking the attack that should've hit me. He had fire engine red hair that was tied up into a pony tail. He wore a black kimono and had a large sword with an extremely odd shape. It got wider at the tip and had sharp ends on the side of the blade.

"Don't worry, your safe now, I'll take it from here." The man said, turning around to give me reassuring simile.

I felt every muscle in my body relax, even though I knew I wasn't out of danger yet, this man seemed like he wanted to help me, and he also looked like he knew what he was doing.

Shigeru's tail left the man, and they all regained their previous position.

"Sixth squad fukutaichou [vice captain], Abarai Renji." Introduced the red haired man.

"Oh, a shinigami has joined us, quite interesting." Smirked the smaller masked man. " Arrancar number 63, Koga Zenko." He introduced.

"Arrancar number 42 Shigeru Shunko." Introduced the other.

"Arrancar? Never heard of you before, eh, oh well. I can't just let some stupid so called 'arrancar' go running around killing whatever humans they see." Said Renji, pointing his sword directly at the arrancar's.

"You best not underestimate us, Shinigami. It will be the end of you." Said Koga, turning to his partner. "You can have him, Shigeru, I have no time to waste on lowly shinigami. And I expected more, especially from a fukutaichou." Koga sighed.

"What did you say!" Yelled Renji, while breaking into a sprint towards the arrancar's.

Shigeru stepped up, in front of Koga, his tail going at full power straight towards Renji. Sword and tail collided, causing a gust of wind to blow out, causing me to steady myself, in order not to fall over.

"Huh, is that all you got Arrancar?" Renji snickered while leaning forward, pushing his sword further into the skin of the arrancar's tail.

For a few seconds nothing happened, both arrancar and shinigami stared deeply into each others eyes, but something was terribly wrong, the smirk on Shigeru's face sent chills down my spine like never before, he looked way to confident.

"Are you sure you should be speaking out of your place, Shinigami!" Shouted Shigeru as his tail slowly began to split in two.

The tail split into two perfect parts, keeping one tail against Renji's sword while the other was left to roam free. The extra tail shot forward and latched onto Renji's right arm.

"Damn it!" Cursed Renji, as he tried to wriggle free from the tight grip.

"Ha, shall I tell you what my power is shinigami! As a parting gift before you die." Snickered the large arranacar. "I have the ability to absorb reitsu dry to the bone and convert it into power for myself, you know what that means? I'll suck out your reiatsu, you'll die, then I'll kill that girl." Laughed Shigeru.

"I won't let you." Renji hissed.

"To bad you have no choice, this is the end."

Shigeru's tail began to glow a bright orange colour, which spread to Renji's arm. Renji began to struggle, but he was turning pale at an alarming rate, like all the energy was being sucked out of him.

I had to do something! I didn't know what, but I had to do something… Anything!

"What are you doing to him!" I screamed, slowly standing up on my feet.

"Shut up girl, your next." Shigeru growled. "Even if my technique doesn't work on you, I'll just crush your head into a million pieces!"

Shigeru turned back to the green Renji, an evil grin plastered on his face. He began to tighten his grip even further, which only made Renji's situation worse.

 _"What could I do!"_ _I thought as I starred at the scene_ _"I couldn't stand up to him, no way, I was powerless I had to do something or that Renji guy will die!"_

Renji's state was just getting worse, he was no longer struggling, and his sword didn't seem to be the same one I saw earlier. It looked like a normal sword compared to the big one he had just before.

"Heh, you don't need this any more." Shigeru said, as he pryed Renji's sword free from his hands.

The sword hit the ground and came bouncing towards me. It may not be much but it was something.

 **Renji's POV:**

 _"Shit, this guy with his cheap ass power, I can't even move."_

"Heh, you don't need this any more." Shigeru said whilst prying my hands open.

"W-what are you doing" I chocked, as his tail pulled open my clenched hands that held my sword.

"Chucking away your useless sword." He replied with a smirk.

I could only stare as my sword fell to the ground in slow motion, leaving a tang deep in my soul, as my partner was ripped away from me.

"Z-zabimaru." I called, as the sword slid away from me.

"Is that the name of your sword? I heard that a shinigami's sword is like a piece of their soul! Ha! Well, looks like you'll be dying without your precious sword."

"Sh-Shut up."

"Ehh, did you say something-"

The sound of a sword through flesh rang through my ears and as grip on my arm loosened. Taking advantage of the situation, I broke free with all the remaining strength I had. I crashed to the ground and started panting for breaths, I could only be glad that I still had enough reiatsu to remain conscious, though I felt weak. My bones were shaking and my eye lids were heavy, it was taking everything just to keep them open.

I twisted my head and looked up. The girl I had saved before was standing there in front of me, with a sword almost as tall as her. She stood tall and strong, like nothing could beat her. Looking closer, I noticed light blue glow around her body and sword, which I could only assume was reiatsu, but the weird thing was, I couldn't feel any from her! I could see it, but couldn't feel it!

Looking passed the girl, I caught a glimpse of the arrancar I was fighting earlier. He was glaring at the girl with the look to kill, and I could see why. Blood and sweat covered his entire body, and the rise and fall of his shoulder showed he was panting hard. But the biggest shock was the thick tail that was lying on the ground, in a pool of deep, red, blood.

The only explanation was the girl had cut it clean off. But how? She was just a human that got caught in all this, right? Who is this girl, really? Why can't I feel her reiatsu? And why is her sword so big?

"I've had enough of your shit." The girl said, as she raised the sword over her head and brought it down. A light blue slash of energy came from the tip of her sword, and headed straight towards Shigeru at blinding speed.

"You, Bitc-" Shigeru cursed before becoming engulfed in the light.

The air became strangely quiet as the dust dissipated, showing the remains of the burnt arrancar. He wobbled on his feet before falling to the grown unconscious in a loud thump, bringing up the remaining dust that surrounded him.

Koga's expression changed to one of neutral to complete shock. I could tell he was surprised by the increase in power this girl had shown, to cut down his comrade like that. But even so, that attack, as powerful as it was, must have taking a lot out of her. She was swaying back and forth as if she was about to topple over. But instead, she stabbed her sword in the ground, leaning on it for balance.

A sudden feeling dawned upon me, I had seen that attack before, not sure where, but I had seen it before, I was sure of it.

With his hands in his pockets, Koga walked over to his fallen comrade, and picked him up by his collar. With his free hand he flicked it, opening a dark eye shaped portal.

"We will not kill you for now." Koga stated as he started to walk through the portal. "I will report back to Aizen-sama of the event's that happened here today, but for now... It is goodbye, Shinigami, and human girl, I am sure you will be of interest to Aizen-sama. I'm sure this wont be the last of you."

Koga turned back around and dragged Shigeru through the portal, not looking back at us once. The portal shuddered, and than shut tight, showing no signs it had even been there.

* * *

 **Amber's POV:**

I feel heavy, really heavy. And though I feel like I'm tied down to the floor by my own weight, I'm hyper aware. The sounds, the smells, the warmth I feel, it has never felt so real before, but my mind is cloudy. I can't remember where I am, or what I meant to be doing, I feel as though something important must of happened, but the more I reach out for it, the further away it gets.

As curiosity got to bad to bear, I strained my heavy eye lids open, but immediately shut them tight as the light burned through them. I tried again, opening my eyes more slowly this time so I could allow them to adjust to the light. I blinked a few times to clear my fuzzy vision, but an unknown roof is all I saw.

"Where am I?" I mumbled, willing my limbs to push themselves up.

I managed to push myself up a bit, but immediately fell down again as a sharp pain made itself present in my right shoulder. Turning my head around slightly, I found it covered in white bandages.

Memories of the previous day came rushing back as if they had never been gone, making my head pound.

"So it wasn't a dream." I mumbled, pushing myself up once again, so I could get a better look at the place I was currently in.

There wasn't much in the small room I currently lay in, There was the mattress I was laying on with my clothes I was wearing from the day before folded neatly on the ground next to me, someone must of changed my clothes. There was one window and if I remembered correctly, this room sort of looks like a traditional Japanese room. There was no western like doors, only a sliding door that I recognised to be Japanese, though I wasn't sure what it was called.

"I see your awake." Said a voice behind the door.

The door slid open, revealing a tall man. He had shaggy blond hair, and wore dark green pant's and shirt with some sort of cardigan like thing over. But what stood out the most, was a striped white and green hat.

"W-Who are you?" I asked in a croaky voice.

The man gave me a slight grin before he spoke.

"My name is Urahara Kisuke, I am a humble shop owner that just happened to treat your wounds," He said with a smile as he pulled out a fan and held it up to his face."Now, I know you must be very confused, but I wish you be patient, you must have a lot of questions as so do I for you, so please come this way, and I'll get you some tea."


	3. Explanations At The Candy Shop

_"Where am I?" I mumbled, willing my limbs to push themselves up._

 _I managed to push myself up a bit, but immediately fell down again as a sharp pain made itself present in my right shoulder. Turning my head around slightly, I found it covered in white bandages._

 _Memories of the previous day came rushing back as if they had never been gone, making my head pound._

 _"So it wasn't a dream." I mumbled, pushing myself up once again, so I could get a better look at the place I was currently in._

 _There wasn't much in the small room I currently lay in, There was the mattress I was laying on with my clothes I was wearing from the day before folded neatly on the ground next to me, someone must of changed my clothes. There was one window and if I remembered correctly, this room sort of looks like a traditional Japanese room. There was no western like doors, only a sliding door that I recognised to be Japanese, though I wasn't sure what it was called._

 _"I see your awake." Said a voice behind the door._

 _The door slid open, revealing a tall man. He had shaggy blond hair, and wore dark green pant's and shirt with some sort of cardigan like thing over. But what stood out the most, was a striped white and green hat._

 _"W-Who are you?" I asked in a croaky voice._

 _The man gave me a slight grin before he spoke._

 _"My name is Urahara Kisuke, I am a humble shop owner that just happened to treat your wounds," He said with a smile as he pulled out a fan and held it up to his face."Now, I know you must be very confused, but I wish you be patient, you must have a lot of questions as so do I for you, so please come this way, and I'll get you some tea."_

* * *

 **Chapter Three - Explanations At The Candy Shop**

* * *

I followed Mr Urahara down the hallway, our feet making slight squeaks from the floor boards. I think I still haven't come to the fact of accepting what happened the other day, it was just too damn strange! And honestly... It felt like a dream. But no matter how much I tried to deny it, I had the wound to prove it, and I'm defiantly not in a place I am familiar with, so I'll just have to trust what this guy says.

"Okay, here we are, please take a seat." Said Mr Urahara, as we walked through the doorway.

We had appeared in a room, similar to the room I had woken up in. The only difference was a Japanese style table that sat in the centre of the room, with a few cushions placed around it. I was certain I was in Japan now. The house, the table, and also the fact that Mr. Urahara was speaking in Japanese, now that I think about it the people at school were also speaking in Japanese.

Feeling slightly better that I knew where I was, I took a seat on the nearest cushion, and braced for the information that was yet to come.

"Hmm where to start..." Pondered Mr. Urahara as he tapped his chin with his fingers. "Well I have all ready introduced myself, so what's your name?" He asked while taking a sip of tea from the cups that were placed on the table before we arrived.

"Amb... I mean Kartori Amber. (Japanese say their last names first.)" I introduced myself with a quick bow, trying to hide my shakey voice.

He starred at me with analytical eyes, which made me shiver.

"I see nice to meet you Kartori-san." He said with a smile, most likely to make me relive my tension. "Your not from Japan are you?" He continued. "Although your Japanese is very good."

I blushed slightly at the compliment. "I went on exchange for six months a few years ago, and I've been practising it ever since." I explained.

"Great! Well that takes care of the language barrier then."

Urahara-san's facial expression suddenly went serious as he started into me eyes, like he was choosing his next words carefully.

"Kartori-san, how much do you remember?"

I explained my experience from the start to the finish. The glass, my friends, those monsters and even how I managed to attack them, which was a bit of a blur to me. I had to bite my tongue to stop spitting out all the questions I had on my mind. Who? What? How? The school? My friends? My family? I honestly felt like a complete idiot, like I had gone mad, because things like that didn't happen. Though Urahara-san didn't interrupt me, he just sat in silence, taking a sip of his tea every now and again.

"So that's what happened... Just as Abarai-san said." He sighed, putting down the cup of tea he was currently holding.

"Abarai-san?" I asked.

"Yes, he was the Shinigami who brought you here. The one with the red hair."

"Ahh yes I remember him." I replied, thinking back to the man who had saved me that day.

We lapsed into silence for a few minutes, neither of us knowing what to say. It wasn't awkward silence, just tense, like what he was about to say is not what I want to hear, I eventually couldn't sit there any longer, I had to know.

"Uahara-san." I whispered.

"Yes." He replied, bringing his eyes up to mine.

"What happened to my friends?"

We sat in silence again for a few seconds again, until Urahara-san spoke.

"They're Dead."

His words hit me like a tone of bricks as It started to sink in, the feeling was unlike any I had felt before. I wasn't sad or angry, and it wasn't like I was in denial either. It was just like I had a huge hole in my heart that couldn't be filled. I felt something wet fall on my right cheek, I wiped it away and realised I was crying, tears that wouldn't stop falling.

"I'm sorry for your loss." Said Urahara-san. "If we wish we can continue this later..."

"No." I quickly said whilst rubbing my eyes to dry the tears. "I would like to continue please."

I had to know, I couldn't wait any longer, I needed to know what happened to them, I could grieve later.

"Very well, if that is your wish."

Urahara-san explained to me all about Shinigami, Hollows, as well as Soul Society, well the basics anyway. On any normal day I wouldn't have believed him, but this wasn't any normal day.

"So what are arrancar." I asked.

"They are supposedly hollow's who have broken their mask. In other words, they have broken the boundary between Hollow and Shinigami." Urahara explained.

"So they have both Hollow and Shinigami powers?" I asked.

"To an extent yes."

"And you think they are the ones that attacked my school."

"Yes."

I clenched my fist under the table. From what I understand from Urahrara-san's explanation, a soul consumed by a hollow isn't sent to Soul Society till the hollow is killed. All the teachers, students, my friends, they won't be free till that hollow is dead. I need to find that hollow, and kill-

 _Kill?_

I've never really lost someone close to me till today, but I never thought this is how I would handle it. I want to _kill_ that hollow. I shut my eyes a took a deep breath. Though we are dealing with supernatural beings here, I never thought I would want to kill someone. I could say it was to free my friends, but what if wasn't? What if it was just cold blooded revenge?

"Any more questions?" Urahara-san asked, bringing me out of my dark thoughts.

I would have to deal with it latter, at the moment I needed information.

"Just one... Who is Aizen?"

Urahara-san froze for a second, before taking a deep breath.

"I thought that might be the case." He muttered, drifting his eyes to the corner of the room. "He was the former captain of squad five, but he is a traitor with unknown plans. An extremely powerful individual." He explained with a tense look.

There must be something more to it, but he didn't look like he wanted to talk about it, so I decided to let it go.

"Did he send those arrancar to my school?" I asked.

"I wouldn't know." He shrugged. "It's defiantly a possibility, but than again, it could have been coincidence."

"Yeah your right." I said looking down at my hands.

"Oh that's right." Urahara shot up, waving his fan in front of his face. "I forgot to ask you, have you ever seen hollows or spirits before?"

"No never in my life." I replied.

"Hmm that's strange."

"What's strange?"

"Well Katori-san, according to Abarai-san you exhibited a good amount of reiatsu, and you could see both him, and the arrancars. But both he, and I, can't feel any type of reiatsu from you. Also, the arrancar's attack didn't work on you, which begs the question if you have any reiatsu at all."

"Is that possible?" I asked.

"I wouldn't know, normal humans don't have reiatsu, and therefore can't see spiritual beings. But you!" He said, pointing his fan at me. "Don't have reiatsu, but can see spiritual beings. Unless you have some other type of power source like reiatsu that we can't fell, I have no idea."

I muled over the idea, I honestly didn't know what to think. I was tired and drained, I just wanted to go to bed.

"So what do I do now?" I asked, trying to keep my yawn that was coming up at bay.

"I think it's best if you stay here in Karakura Town. We don't know if you might get attacked again, so it's best to keep you here where we can protect you. We have dealt with your parents as well, they think your on exchange!"

I nodded my head in agreement, I didn't think of it before, but I'm so glad my brother Sam didn't go to school that day or else he would've most likely been dead. Noah and Kate also weren't at school that day, so they're still alive. Defiantly the best choice to stay here in Japan. If I went home, I could possibly be putting my family and friends in danger.

"Okay Katori-san." Urahara-san chirped as he made his way to the door. "Why don't we meet the rest of the people you will be living with."

I entered to what looked to be the front of a candy store, looks like Urahara-san wasn't lying when he said he owned a candy shop. Outside at the front of the store were two kids, a boy with red hair, and a girl with black hair. The girl seemed to be sweeping with a broom, while the boy was just swinging his broom around in a playful matter. There was also a big man carrying around boxes, who nodded his head as he walked past me.

"Jinta! Ururu!" Urahara-san called.

The children quickly stopped what they were doing and came over to us, as well as the big man from earlier.

"Everyone, this is Kartori Amber, she will be our guest for a while, please make her welcome."

The three people in front of me nodded their heads, than started to introduce themselves.

"I'm Jinta!" The boy said confidently.

"I'm Ururu." The girl said with a bow, I could defiantly tell she was the shy and quiet one.

"I am Tessai, nice to meet you Kartori-dono."

"Dono!" I exclaimed.

Urahara-san just chuckled at my expression.

"You have already have met Abarai-san, he is staying here as well, but he will be going back to Soul Society shortly." Said Urahara-san.

"Oh I remember him! I need to thank him for the other day. Where is he?" I asked whilst glancing around the room to make sure I hadn't missed him.

Urahara just stared at me for a second and blinked a few times in response.

"Kartori-san... His right in front of you."


	4. I Can't See Ghosts

_"You have already have met Abarai-san, he is staying here as well, but he will be going back to Soul Society shortly." Said Urahara-san._

 _"Oh I remember him! I need to thank him for the other day. Where is he?" I asked whilst glancing around the room to make sure I hadn't missed him._

 _Urahara just stared at me for a second and blinked a few times in response._

 _"Kartori-san... His right in front of you."_

* * *

 **Chapter Four – I Can't See Ghosts**

* * *

"Huh? Huh?!" I chocked out as I ran my eyes over the room, looking for any signs of the red haired Shinigami. "Urahara-san, wha-what do you mean he's right in front of me?" I asked The Shop Keeper.

By this time Jinta was on the floor laughing his head off, while Ururu was desperately trying to calm him down.

"Haha! Your face freeloader-san, her hand went right through you!" Said Jinta as he tried to contain his laughter.

"Wait... What!?"

"Calm down Katori-san." Said Urahara. "It was my fault to assume that you would be able to see spirits. Please change into a Gigai, Abarai-san."

So after calming Jinta down, and the supposing phantom Renji changed into his _'gigai',_ he appeared in the doorway, wearing bright coloured clothes that looked like they were from the eighties.

"Yo" Renji said, lifting a hand up and waving to me.

"Hey." I replied, walking over to him. "Sorry about not seeing you before." I mumbled, kinda embarrassed that I didn't see him before.

He stared at me with an unreadable expression, he took a deep breath and brought his eyes back to me.

"Nah, no problem." He replied, waving his right arm through the air. "Although I'll say, it felt weird to have your hand pass through my body."

"What!-"

"No, it's seriously fine." He chucked, moving his body to lean on the edge of a shelf.

I closed my eyes and let out a long sigh. "Well anyway thanks for saving me back there, if it wasn't for you I'd be dead."

"What are you talking about, your the one who saved me!" Renji stated.

"Huh?"

"You really don't remember." He said with a sigh.

"Well everything from that day is a bit of a blur." I said to him, though it was kind of a lie.

I remember everything, really clearly too. But it doesn't make sense to me. Shinigami, arrancar's, the afterlife, none of it is easy to believe, and though I have accepted it on some level, it still doesn't explain why I was involved. I mean, we have already established I can't see spirits, it was just a freak accident where I happened to become able to see ghost briefly.

"Yeah, anyway glad to see your okay, I'm going back to Soul Society." Renji said, bringing me out of my thoughts.

"Okay." I replied "I'm getting a bit sleepy anyway."

Renji nodded his head and pushed himself off the shelf that he was leaning on. Turning his back to me, he lifted one arm up in a wave, and disappeared through the door.

I waited a minute before turning to Urahara who had been standing in the corner of the room watching over our conversation.

"Urahara-san, is it okay if I go back to my room now?" I asked.

"Of course." He chimed, waving his fan in the direction of the way we came. "Please come this way Katori-san."

I followed him down the hallway to a different room from the one I woke up in, but it had the exact same plain design. I gave my thanks to Urahara-san, putting on the bravest face I could muster, but after he left, I couldn't help but fall to the floor. I lay my head on the soft futon that had been placed in my room, letting the sheets become wet with my tears and letting my body shake with muffled cries.

* * *

It has been a week since I came to Japan. Nothing really exciting has happened, so I've been doing chores around the shop to fill in time. I didn't want to be a burden to Urahara-san, he is giving food and a place to stay, so I insisted I do a little bit of work, which he complied. I also got to know everyone who lives here too. I often do chores with Jinta and Ururu, and Tessai-san is always kind enough to go out of his way to say hello to me. I also met the three mod souls that live here, Ririn, Kurodo and Nova (Bount Arc). I was just starting to get used to life around this place, that was, until this morning.

"Katori-san!" Urahara-san sang as he slightly opened the door to my room. "Wakey, Wakey! Time to get up, today is a very special day."

I opened my eyes slightly to see Urahara-san with a big grin on his face, even though I have only lived with him for a week, I know that seemingly harmless smile was bad news.

"What is it Urahara-san?" I mumbled, turning over to the other side of the futon in an attempt to go back to sleep.

"Well I am glad you asked, because today is your ta-da! First day of school!" He said while waving his fan around.

It took a good ten seconds to finally sink in.

"SCHOOL!" I yelled as I shot up in a sitting position, turning to him in shock.

"I take it you don't like school." Urahara said with a grin.

"Whatever gave you that idea." I muttered, rolling my eyes.

"Great! well here's your uniform." He chirped as he threw a plastic bag at me. "I'll meet you in front of the shop in forty five minutes, bye bye." He sang, shutting the door and scrambling off before I could protest.

I let out a long sigh and opened the bag to find two pair's of shoes, one pair for outside and the other for inside, a pair of white socks, a white shirt with a red ribbon and a grey pleated skirt. I quickly got dressed and did everything else I needed to do, before hurrying outside to the front of the shop. Jinta was waiting outside the shop, he gave me a map of the town, a big red circle around where Karakura High was located. I waved goodbye, and scurried off to school, the last thing I wanted was to be late on my first day.

And that's how I got here, waiting outside the staff room in a school I had never even set eyes on till this morning. Since I had nothing better to do, I glanced my eyes around the hallway. It looked like a normal High School, nothing special, the hallway was lined with doors to class room's, and windows were lined equally against the wall. The walls were painted white as well as the floor, plain and normal, just how I liked it.

In the distance, I saw a male student walking towards me, without hesitation, I darted my eyes away and looked down at my feet to avoid eye contact with the person. What I didn't expect is him to stop right in front of me. Let alone talk to me!

"Heh, Heh, sorry I'm lost, could you help me?" Asked the guy standing in front of me.

I looked up from my feet to look at the guy in front of me, he had a blond, bob, haircut cut with a straight fringe, he was pretty skinny and had odd looking teeth that shaped into a creepy smile, though I thought nothing of it, that must just be how his face is.

"Sorry, I don't think I'll be much help. I just started here today." I replied.

"Oh really? Me too!" He said with a grin. "My name is Hirako Shinji, I'm in class 1-3. Nice to meet'cha."

"Class 1-3? I'm in that class too. Oh! Mine name is Katori Amber by the way."

"Looks like it's fate for us to be in the same class. Right, Amber-chan." Shinji said with a sly grin.

Before I could reply our home-room teacher burst through the staff room door, full of energy.

"Alright Katori-san! If you would follow me- Oh! who is this?" Asked the teacher.

"Oh this is Harako Shinji, His supposed to be transferring to our class too." I replied while Shinji held up a peace sign.

"Oh yes Hirako-kun, nice to meet you, Okay! This way you two."

We both followed the teacher through the school hallways till we finally came to a classroom marked 1-3.

"Okay! you two wait outside till I tell you to come in, okay? "

"Hai (Yes)" We both replied in unison.

The teacher went inside the classroom, leaving us both outside waiting. Shinji was talking to me about something, but I wasn't really listening since I was too nervous about how I was going to introduce myself, stupid I know. But what if I spelled my name wrong and embarrassed myself in front of the whole class, I may be able to speak Japanese but writing is defiantly not one of my strong suits, though my thoughts were interrupted when Shinji suddenly became quiet.

"What's wrong?' I asked him.

"Ehh? oh nothing I just need to go check on something so see ya!" He said, quickly turning and running towards the exit.

I was left in his trail of dust, blinking in confusion.

"What? Shinji-kun what about school?" I yelled out.

"Ehh, I'll be back sometime soon so... See ya!" He waved, turning around the corner and out of view.

"And than there was one." I sighed to myself.

I didn't have time to think how strange that was, because straight after our little comedy skit was over, a yelp was heard from the class room and an orange hair guy suddenly came out of the door and ran down the hallway in the direction Shinji had just been.

"Oi! hold it, Kurosaki!" Yelled Sensei (Teacher).

"I gotta go!" Yelled back the orange hair guy supposedly named Kurosaki.

Then another girl with auburn hair and another student who appeared to be of Mexican origin ran after him, I just couldn't believe my eyes. Just what type of school was I attending?

"Hey! Chad and Inoue too!" Yelled Sensei.

Both of them used the same lame excuse of needing to go too the toilet and vanished, leaving both Sensei and I stunned.

Then yet another student with brown hair came out planning to follow them, but Sensei was having none of that with this kid.

"No way are YOU going Keigo." Said Sensei.

"Whaaat, That's not fair you let Ichigo and the others go. No Fair. No Fair. No Fair!" Wailed Keigo, trying to run after them even with his collar firmly latched in sensei's grip.

"Oh well I'm sure those kids wont do anything bad- wait where's Hirako-kun?" Sensei asked, turning to me.

"I'm not sure, he said he needed to check on something." I shrugged.

"Ahh kids these days, anyway come and introduce yourself Katori-san."

I walked into the mysterious classroom, running the words over and over in my head, memorising the words I would use to introduce myself. Of course, I forgot everything once I stepped into the classroom, I guess I'll just have to improvise.

"Okay, you know what to do." Said Sensei with I reassuring smile.

I grabbed the chalk of the shelf, trying my hardest to calm my shaking hands. Taking a deep breath, I slowly wrote my name in Katakana (Alphabet used for foreign words in Japan, such as English words and names.)

I took one last deep breath, and faced the class

"Hello, my name is Katori Amber. I am indeed a foreigner but I know Japanese. I am pleased to meet you all." I said with a bow.

Thank goodness I didn't mess up, the class clapped their hands together and I was appointed a seat next to a girl with spiky black hair. Being able to breathe normally again, I looked to the front of the class.

What would today bring?


	5. First Day of School and Hollows

_I took one last deep breath, and faced the class_

 _"Hello, my name is Katori Amber. I am indeed a foreigner, but I know Japanese. I am pleased to meet you all." I said with a bow._

 _Thank goodness I didn't mess up, the class clapped their hands together and I was appointed a seat next to a girl with spikey black hair. Being able to breathe normally again, I looked to the front of the class._

 _What would today bring?_

* * *

 **Chapter Five – First Day of School and Hollows**

* * *

I breathed a deep sigh of relief, I had managed to introduce myself without completely embarrassing myself. Looking around, classroom 1-3 looked like any normal classroom, which I wasn't complaining. Most of the students looked somewhat normal too, well, for now anyway. Over the past couple of weeks I have learned to suspect everyone, and when I say everyone, I mean everyone! You never know who has ties with the spiritual world, for good reasons or bad. But since I can't see spirits, there's no point in worrying because I'll most likely never find out, and they'll never find out I have ties since I don't give off reiastu. It's kind of frustrating since I can't go home, but it's also relieving to know I won't need to be on guard all the time.

I forced myself out of my thoughts and looked up at the board to find it covered in Japanese words I couldn't read. I almost forgot the whole school aspect about coming to school, since I was so nervous about making a fool out of myself. The teacher, who was explaining our first task for the day finally stopped talking and handed out some grammar worksheets for us to do.

The teacher went back to her desk to do her own work, letting the room muffle into chat. I ignored it though and tried to focus on the work that had been placed in front of me. I continued to try and make sense of the letters I front of me. I didn't realise how concentrated with my work I was, till I felt some hard taps on my shoulders.

Instinct took over, making me jerk back in my chair, knocking the table and causing a few pens to drop to the floor.

The whole class fell silent and turned their heads towards me. I took a hitched breath and sat back in my chair, laying my head down so the class wouldn't see my red cheeks.

"Katori-san, are you feeling alright?" Sensei asked me, a concerned look spread across her face.

"Umm, yeah, I'm fine." I replied.

The teacher still had a concerned look on her face, but shrugged it off, going back to her work. Students following soon after.

I let out a sigh. "Should've known I would embarrass myself." I mumbled under my breath.

The clanking sound of pens hitting the table sounded beside me. Looking over I saw the pens that had fallen on the floor back on my desk, and a hand pulling away from them. I followed the hand to the person to find the girl with spikey black hair pulling her hand back to her table.

"Sorry about that." Spoke the girl beside me. "Didn't mean to scare you."

Realising she was talking to me I jerked my head to the right to face her, she seemed to be paying no notice and was stuck in her work, but after a while she lifted her eyes up to mine and put her pen down.

"Don't worry about it." I replied, giving her a reassuring smile. "I've always been a jumpy person, I'm used to it by now."

She gave out a small chuckle. "I'm glad, though you looked pretty into your work, new school, I guess you want to start fresh and get good grades.

"Oh nothing like that." I laughed. "I just find it hard to read Kanji, so I have to concentrate really hard."

"Oh." She said. "I already forgot you weren't from Japan, I'll help you out with the Kanji if you want?"

"Really?!" I exclaimed. "Wow! Thanks so much."

"No problem." She grinned as she leaned back on her chair. "I'm Arisawa Tatsuki, though you can just call me Tatsuki."

"Well nice to meet you Tatsuki." I greeted her. "Well I guess you already know name, but just call me Amber. We call each other by our first names where I come from anyway."

She gave a silent nod and we both exchanged smiles, I knew that we would become fast friends.

"You can come sit with us at lunch if you want." Offered Tatsuki. "And I'll introduce you to the rest of my friends."

"Thanks! I was really nervous about coming here, but I feel so much better talking to you."

Tatsuki couldn't help but smile at the complement I had given her.

"Don't worry Amber." Tatsuki said. As she gave me the thumbs up. "I'll take good care of you."

We both laughed as the three students that ran out of the class earlier came back into the classroom quietly, trying not to draw to much attention to themselves.

"Oi Tatsuki, are those people your friends, the ones that went to the bathroom?" I asked.

"Yeah they are, I'll introduce them to them later, but don't worry too about them, they always seem to do stuff like that."

Tatsuki face slid into a frown, so I quickly stopped the conversation and went back to face my work. She seemed sad that they always went to the bathroom, I guess I had better stay on the safe side and not bring it up any more.

* * *

Recess rolled around faster than expected, and just like every new student, I was being bombarded with so many names, I was sure that I was going to forget them all.

First was Inoue Orihime, she was Tatsuki's best friend. She was really bubbly and sweet and I just couldn't help but take an instant liking to her. Then Keigo and Mizuro introduced themselves. Asano Keigo was defiantly the goofy sort of guy while Kojima Mizuiro was the calm collected one of the two. Ishida Uryū seemed to be the quiet and solitary type and Chad just didn't seem to talk, but all in all, he seemed like a pretty cool guy.

And last was Kurosaki Ichigo, well what could I say, HIS HAIR WAS ORANGE! He told me it was natural, but I wasn't convinced.

"So is your hair really orange?"

"For the last time yes!" Ichigo sighed in a slightly annoyed voice.

"I'm sorry I just can't see how that is your natural hair colour."

Ichigo sighed and continued to stare off into space, which he seems to do a lot. But I couldn't help but think that for some strange reason, Ichigo seems really familiar, like we had met before. It first happened when he ran out of the classroom, though I shook it off for just being surprised, but as I talked more and more to him, I couldn't shake off the feeling that something wasn't right.

"Hey Ichigo, have we met before?" I asked, not really sure where this conversation was going.

"No don't think so. Why?" He asked, looking at me with one eyebrow raised.

"I dunno, just wandering." I mumbled.

"Wouldn't you have remembered me? I mean, since your sooo interested in my hair." He said whilst rolling his eyes.

"I told you didn't I." I said, shaking my finger at him. "I'm still not convinced that is your natural hair colour."

Before Ichigo could argue back Sensei came into the classroom, telling us all to go to our seats. I followed obediently, plopping down next to Tatsuki.

"Okay, now I'm going to introduce our other transfer student." The teacher announced to the class.

"Well it's about time Shinji." I muttered under my breath.

Shinji was immediately through the door and writing his name on the board, explaining what his name meant or something like that, I wasn't from Japan, so I had no idea what he was talking about. I heard a lot of gasping and laughing so he must've been doing something funny up there, or stupid, I wasn't really sure.

Shinji eventually came and sat down at his seat, which happened to be next to Ichigo, waving at me as he walked past. With nothing else to do, I knuckled down and did my work, looking at the clock every few minutes just itching for school to end.

* * *

School had finally ended, I was now standing outside The Urahara Shop (since I had no social life) and also because Urahara had told me it was best to stay around here were I could be protected if any bad guys showed up.

I walked up to the Urahara Shop, opening the door and stepping inside. It was the same scene as usual, merchandise that hadn't been sold, counters spotless thanks to Ururu, and the occasional broken item from Jinta.

"Ahh, Katori-san your home!" Sang Urahara as he poked his head out from the doorway, waving his fan in front of his face. "So how was your day?"

"Fine, got a lot of homework though." I replied, putting my bag down and scrummaging through it for a pen.

"Well you better get started then." He said, turning sharp on his heel and getting back to whatever in the world he does (I don't ask).

Homework for me takes a long time to do, so I made myself comfortable for the non stop hours of complete and utter confusion that would await.

* * *

"Ahh, homework finally finished!" I said to myself, as I got up stretched out my achy arms and legs.

All that work had made me hungry, so I started to walk over to the kitchen to get some snacks when I was struck dead in my tracks. I felt a heavy weight drop through my throat and down into my stomach, sending chills throughout my whole body. I stood up and cautiously and walked into the main part of the store, were I could just barely spot someone standing outside. I walked over and slowly opened the door, feeling to cold breeze whip against my face. On closer inspection the man standing outside turned out to be Urahara-san. I breathed a sigh of relief and walked over to him, noticing the dark clouds had started to cover Karakura Town. Urahara quickly turned his head to get a glimpse of me, but then continued to stare forward.

"I assume you noticed to Katori-san." Urahara-san muttered, not taking his eyes off the distance for a second.

"Yeah I feel it, but it's a bit different than last time." I replied, holding back memories of that day.

"Hmm, I see. Stay inside tonight Katori-san, I believe it will be dangerous outside." Urahara-san said, maintaining his straight face.

He began to walk forward, through the darkness. He didn't even turn around, he just kept walking, and it didn't look like he was going to stop.

"Where are you going?" I called out.

"I'm just going to check on something, you stay here okay."

And with that, he disappeared into shadows, leaving no imprint that he was even here,

I knew better than to follow, I would only be in the way. But I defiantly couldn't get used to this feeling, the feeling my soul was being stretched and mushed in my body.

I decided to walk back into the store, there was no point staying outside in the cold. I took a few steps towards the front door, but a subtle movement in the corner in my eye caused me to stop. I looked up onto the roof and squinted my eyes, hoping to see better, but it was too dark.

Curiosity got the better of me, I walked around to the side of the store, and climbed my way up onto the roof using the fence. It was a bit difficult since it was dark and I couldn't see, but I knew I could easily climb to the height, I just went about it slower.

I pulled myself onto the roof and slowly stood up, making sure I had my balance under control. I turned my head to the left, and to my relief, I saw the mod souls sitting there.

I breathed a deep sigh of relief, I had thought for a moment that it was something else. I slowly started to walk over to them, I was already up here, so I may as well stay here. Plus, this feeling was making me uneasy, and I would rather not be alone.

My feet made soft thumps on the roof, alerting the mod souls of my presence.

"Oh Amber!" Ririn exclaimed as she noticed me. "We were just assessing the reiatsu. I'd stay inside though, you can't tell, since you can't sense reiatsu, but there is a dangerous vibe in the air."

"I know." I muttered, earning strange looks from all three of them. "Not really sure why, but it seems as I can sense this reiatsu sometimes and not others." I explained to them.

I sat down on the rood tiles, bringing my knees up to my chest in hope it would keep me warm. The mod souls nodded in understanding, and continued to search for reiatsu's. I just let them be.

I decided to perform a little experiment for myself, I tried to concentrate on the anxious feeling in my body. I felt a flutter in my chest, and the front of my body became really heavy, like there was pressure pushing from in front of me.

I pulled myself out of the little meditative trance I had gotten myself into, and the feeling immediately disappeared, though leaving tickling sensations where it had once been.

"Mmmm." Hummed Kurodo in deep thought.

"Look there!" Said Ririn, pointing at the general direction in front of us.

I looked into the distance, straining my eyes to get a better picture. And that's when I saw it, a faint black outline of some kind of monster with broken buildings everywhere, and a thick layer of dust, but the most creepy thing about it was, it was the direction I had felt the pressure on my body just a few minutes ago.

"It's a hollow!" Ririn screeched.

"It's huge." Said Nova.

"And it's right near us." Stated Kurodo.

I clenched my teeth together, that hollow was the size of the skyscrapers, how could anyone go up against something like that!?

"What do we do?" I asked.

"We should be fine if we sta- That's Kon's Reitsu!." Exclaimed Kurodo.

"Kon?! What's he doing?" Ririn asked.

"Kon? Who's that?" I asked, looking over at the mod souls.

"Oh his another Mod Soul like us." Replied Kurodo.

"Anyway he needs help." Said Ririn as she shot up from her seat. "Where is Kisuke?"

"He left before." I said.

"Sheesh! And at a time like this." Ririn grumbled. "We'll change into our gigai's and go help him, Amber, you go find Kisuke."

I reluctantly nodded, I didn't really want to go out there alone, but I had no choice, if this Kon guy was in danger, I had to do everything in my power to help him, that's just me.

I found my footing and leaped off the roof, wasting no time breaking into a sprint in the general direction where Urahara-san went.

I slowed down into a run so I could conserve my energy. I am a good runner, so I wasn't worried about my endurance, the only problem was I had no idea were Urahara was.

"Damn it." I cursed under my breath, as I continued to run through the dark alleyways.

My heart was thumping in my ears, making my whole body throb, but I didn't stop. I ran through the streets, darting my eyes around for anything that might pop out. A distinctive crunching sound could be heard up ahead, but I ignored it, thinking it was my feet on the paved ground.

Suddenly the wall in front of me collapsed with a bang. I skidded to a stop just before I crashed into the smoke a debris. As I started to look around for a cause I stumbled on a large figure that didn't look anything like a person, it looked more like a monster.

The smoked started to clear and the monster jumped out in front me. After the last specks of dirt cleared, I could see the identity of this being. My eyes widened as I stared into the eyes of the beast. It looked like I giant frog with a white mask covering where it's face would be, it's body was a dark green colour with black stripes and it's eyes were glowing red. I took a few small steps back. This was without a doubt a hollow.

My body was shaking so hard, like it was ready to run at any second. My heart raced in my chest and I felt the air had suddenly disappeared.

 **"Hmm, I can't seem to smell you. how interesting. I just have to gobble you up and have a quick taste."** Said the hollow whilst licking his lips.

I took a ready stance as the hollow flew towards me. I quickly dogged managing not get. My eyes quickly searched the alleyway, looking for some way out of this mess, or at least some sort of weapon.

 **"Stay still you little bug, how can I eat you if you keep moving around.?** Growled the hollow.

The hollow swung his hand towards me, without thinking, I jumped over it, but the hollow took this as an advantage, swinging back quickly before I had time to regain my balance and knocking me into a concrete wall.

"Shit!" I hissed, as the taste of blood filled my mouth.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw a metal pipe sticking out from the rubble. I scurried over there without a second thought, picking up the pipe and getting into a stance.

 **"Pfft, your going to fight me with that as a weapon."** The hollow scoffed.

"This is the weapon I'm going to defeated you with you filthy toad." I retorted, tightening my grip on the rod.

The hollow attacked first, using his whole body. I steped to the side and jumped aiming the rod at his mask, that was their weak spot according to Urahara-san.

I forced the rod down with all my might, the mask was freakishly hard, but I kept pushing, and it broke through slightly, giving the hollow a small crack in his skull.

 **"Damn it, I'll kill you!"** The hollow screamed as he clutched his cracked skull.

With that he gave off a horrible high pitched scream. So bad I had to cover my ears, afraid that they would burst. Out of no where two more hollows appeared in front of me. Smaller than the first but just as blood thirsty.

They both started charging towards me. I stood my ground blocking the first one with the pipe, but after the second one charged I was knocked to the ground, scratches all over my body.

I tried to stand up, but my body had no plan to obey me.

 _"I'm going to die aren't I."_ I thought, I could feel my eyes burning, I didn't want to die, The hollows were getting closer and closer with every second, and all I could do was lay there.

 _"Man I'm pathetic."_ I thought. _"I wonder what my friends would think."_ I wheezed, clenching my eyes shut. _"They'd be angry I gave up, defiantly David."_ I thought, reflecting on passed memories with me and my friends. It had only been a week since their death, the pain still hurt so much it was unbearable. I kept it inside though, to keep from making it harder on Urahara-san and everyone else. But I was angry. At why I was the only one to survive, why wasn't I able to protect them, but most of all, how those arrancar's do something like that. My blood boils every time I think about it. I never thought I was the one who would take revenge, but how could I forgive them? And now I was going to die, without avenging my friends deaths.

Why?

I don't want to die.

I can't give up yet.

Are you really such a person that your resolve is shattered So easily?

"No" I grabbed onto the metal pole, slowly standing up to face the hollows.

"I am not."

"GIVING UP SO EASILY!" I screamed, feeling power build up throughout my body, dulling the pain of my injuries and giving me new energy.

I quickly jumped up, slashing the two minor hollows straight down the middle. The metal rod now had a blue light around it, as well as my hand. I didn't understand, but I didn't need to.

" **You! What did you do!?"** Growled the hollow.

I didn't say anything, I just glared straight into the eyes of the beast. He scrunched his face together and thrust his arm forward for the punch. I blocked the hollows arm with the rod, pushing back as hard as I could before jumping above the hollow and stabbing the pole deep into the centre of his mask.

 **"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"** Screamed the hollow.

I clenched my teeth together and pulled the pole towards me, slicing the hollow's mask in half. The screaming stop and the hollow dissipated into particles. I fell to the ground with a thump, I had absolutely zero energy left and the agonising pain was starting to return.

"I have no idea how I got out of that one." I sighed, slightly wincing at the pain that was coursing through my body.

"I would also like to know how you managed that as well."

I looked up to see a certain someone in hat and clogs staring right down at me.

"Urahara-san." I mumbled, propping myself with my arm. "Are Ririn and Kuro-"

"Don't worry Katori-san, they're fine." Urahara-san reassured me, as he bent down to my level.

I looked up to see three shadows behind Urahara-san.

"I see, that's good." I replied.

"So how did you managed to get all beaten up?" He asked.

"Hollows."

"How many?"

"Three."

"How did you defeat them?"

I pushed myself onto my knees and grabbed the metal rod, holding it up in front of me. Urahara-san gave me a confused look so I tried to bring back that blue light. I closed my eyes and focused real hard till I heard some gasps. I opened my eyes, to see to rod glowing a light blue colour, as well as my body.

"This is how you won" Urahara-san said, keeping a serious gaze on me.

"Yeah." I nodded

"I kind of looks like reiatsu." Urahara-san said as he examined the glowing pole. "But like Abarai-san said, I can't feel any from you."

I continued giving off this blue energy for a while as Urahara studied it, but I suddenly felt a crack, not sure where but something defiantly cracked something from inside me, but not a body part. There was no pain, but just a complete loss of motion. I couldn't move. The blue light disappeared immediately, I fell to the ground barley able the keep my eyes open. Strong arms caught me before impact.

"We better go home now, eh, Katori-san."


	6. Arrancar Attack

_I pushed myself onto my knees and grabbed the metal rod, holding it up in front of me. Urahara-san gave me a confused look so I tried to bring back that blue light. I closed my eyes and focused real hard till I heard some gasps. I opened my eyes, to see to rod glowing a light blue colour, as well as my body._

 _"This is how you won" Urahara-san said, keeping a serious gaze on me._

 _"Yeah." I nodded_

 _"I kind of looks like reiatsu." Urahara-san said as he examined the glowing pole. "But like Abarai-san said, I can't feel any from you."_

 _I continued giving off this blue energy for a while as Urahara studied it, but I suddenly felt a crack, not sure where but something defiantly cracked something from inside me, but not a body part. There was no pain, but just a complete loss of motion. I couldn't move. The blue light disappeared immediately, I fell to the ground barley able the keep my eyes open. Strong arms caught me before impact._

 _"We better go home now, eh, Katori-san."_

* * *

 **Chapter Six - Arrancar Attack**

* * *

I opened my eyes and found myself staring at the familiar scenery of my bedroom roof at The Urahara Shōten. I took a deep breath and sat up, checking my wounds from the night before. I had bandages on my right shoulder and across my ribs. The pain throbbed a little bit, I could bear it.

"I guess I am going to have to get used to this." I sighed, slowly standing up on my two feet, wobbling as I found my balance.

I hobbled out of the room, and made my way to the dining room. On arrival I saw Urahara-san along with the three mod souls kneeling down at the low table, indulged in conversation.

They all turned their heads to look at me as I entered the room. I gave them a smile as I hobbled over and sat down with them.

"Amber! Are you okay? We were so worried about you!" Ririn cried, putting her two plushy hands on the table and leaning forward.

"Heh heh, I'm fine." I said whilst rubbing the back of my head. "A bit sore, but I'll get over it."

"Glad to hear it."Urahara-san put in whilst taking a sip of his tea. "I took some test while you were unconscious. I'll tell you the results when I get them." He explained.

I put my hand over my mouth and let out a yawn. "What about?" I asked, my voice stretching out as I continued to yawn.

"Just a few things about your reiatsu, nothing to complicated." He replied, putting his fan up to his face so it covered his mouth.

I gave a nod and put my head on the table, letting my eyes droop down so they where almost closed.

"But in the mean time... Please go to school!" Urahara-san sang.

"What!" I mumbled, lifting my head up to face him, but slamming it back on the table as I saw his grin.

"Students must go to school, It's the law!"

I let out a long groan and pushed my body back up into a sitting position. "What's the time?"

"10:40, if you get ready quickly, you'll make it to third period."

I looked over at the three mod souls, then back at Urahara-san. "Fine, I'll go." I grumbled as I made my way up onto my two legs.

"Are you sure?" Asked Ririn with a concerned look. "There is nothing wrong with resting some more." She said, earning nods from the other mod souls.

"Nah it's fine." I replied. "I'll just sleep well tonight, that's all." I smiled, turning away so my back faced them and making my way to my room.

I got dressed, washed my face, and put my hair up into a simple ponytail. I wasn't in the mood to do anything to extensive and I was running late anyway, so I called it good enough, grabbed an apple, and made my way out the door.

I briskly walked to school, taking a bite out of my apple every now and again. Karakura High School was only a district over from The Urahara Shōten, so it wasn't a far walk.

I arrived at 11:10, just five minutes before recess started. I went straight to class, hoping I would get there before anyone else did. My hopes were shattered as I opened the door. Most students were standing around in groups, but there eyes immediately went over to me as I entered, shocked looks on their faces. Probably because A. I was late, and B. I had bandages all over my body.

I gave the class a smile and made a v-line to my desk, throwing my apple core into the bin as I went pass.

But as I immediately sat down at my desk, it was surrounded by concerned and curious faces.

"Amber-chan what happened?" Asked Inoue, he big grey eyes full with concern.

"Oh don't worry, it's nothing." I grinned. "Just dropped some boxes while I was working last night." (Nailed it!)

"Ehh, must of been a lot of boxes to do that to you." Tatsuki said, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"And heavy too!" Added Keigo.

"You bet." I replied, leaning over and getting my books out of my bag.

I was stopped by some shouts and grunts from the group of people in front of me. Looking up, an energetic Shinji came from the group, making his way to my desk.

"Ahh Amber-chan, are you okay?" Wailed Shinji, who had just made his way over to the group.

Just leave it to Shinji to make a big deal out of everything.

"Yeah I'm fine." I replied. "Though did you really need to push through the crowd." I asked with one eyebrow raised.

"But you have bandages all over yourself!" Shinji pointed out, like that fixed everything.

I let out a loud sigh, tempted to hit my head on the table. Shinji opened his mouth to ask something else, but was stopped as the door creaked open.

"Okay! take a seat class." Yelled the teacher, smacking her book onto the desk to gather everyone's attention.

Shinji looked over at me, then back to the teacher. I mouthed the words 'tell you later' before he went back to his desk.

Everyone slowly made their way back to their seats, giving me my long awaited breathing room. I could tell the questions would bombard me all day, and I wasn't looking forward to it.

I opened my books and copied the teachers notes from the blackboard. As I looked up to copy the next line, I caught Ichigo looking out the window, with a blank look, like he was in deep thought or distracted.

 _"I wonder what's wrong with him."_

* * *

Slinging my bag over my shoulder, I walked through the school gates. The bell to single the end of the day had sounded about fifteen minutes ago, so I talked to my friends for a little while before leaving. I would have just gone back home to do nothing anyway, so a little late getting out wouldn't hurt.

I turned the corner and continued to walk down the street, letting myself get lost in my mind. I sudden tap on my shoulder caused me to jump ten feet in the air, making my heart leap out of my chest. I turned around to see none other than Tatsuki staring at me with a stunned look.

"Oh Tatsuki! what's up?" I said, recovering from my initial shock.

Tatsuki let out a small chuckle than looked back up to me "Sorry to scare you Amber." She apologised. "I guess you weren't lying when you said you get sacred easily."

"Shut up." I mumbled, rolling my eyes at her. "Plus, you don't seem like your sorry."

She gave me a grin and put her hands on her hips. "Anyway, I was just wondering if you would like to come to the dōjō with me, you said you liked sports, so maybe you would like to join."

I thought about it for a moment, I had never been to a dōjō before, but it would be good for my fitness and I knew I would get stir crazy soon enough if I didn't start doing any physical activity.

"Sure." I replied. "Although I don't think I can do anything today." I said, pointing to the bandages on my body.

"That's fine, you can just watch." She replied as she took a glance at the watch on her wrist."Well we better go, I don't what to be late."

Tatsuki turned around, and started to walk the other way, signalling me to follow.

I swung me bag over my shoulder and jogged up to her, slowing to a walk as I made my way beside her.

The walk through town was surprisingly enjoyable. We actually have a lot in common, mostly about sport, so she talked about different karate techniques while I talked about soccer. Maybe coming to Japan wasn't such a bad thing.

* * *

"So how did you like the dōjō?" Tatsuki asked, as she slurped on her smoothie.

I took a sip out of my own. I had gotten the okay to watch from the instructor, so I watched Tatsuki do karate for an hour or so till she was finished. It looked fun, hard work, but fun. I found myself itching to join in countless of times.

"It looked really fun, I'll defiantly join once my injuries heal." I replied as we continued to walk down the street.

After Tatsuki had finished at the dōjō, we decided to go to the community park and hang out. So we grabbed a smoothie from a local cafe and walked towards the park, It wasn't far from the dōjō, so we should be there soon.

"Glad to hear it, but that doesn't mean I'll go easy on you." She snickered, giving me a playful push.

"Wouldn't have it any other way." I laughed, taking another sip from my smoothie.

We lapsed into comfortable silence, the odd slurping sound of a smoothing occurring every now and again.

"So Tatsuki." I began, breaking the silence. "How long have you-"

I was stopped when the ground started to violently shake below me, sending birds shrieking and car horns honking around us.

"What was that?! An earthquake?" I asked, looking over at Tatsuki, but it was like she didn't hear me. Her eyes were wide and full of fear.

"Tatsuki?" I whispered.

She didn't turn to me, instead she dropped her smoothie letting the contents splat on the ground and ran forward.

"Tatsuki!" I yelled, dropping my smoothie and pushing my legs forward to run after her.

But only after a few seconds. I could tell I wasn't going to catch her. She was fast, and my body was in no state to do hardcore exercise.

"Tatsuki!" I yelled again, but heard no reply.

She turned the corner out of sight. I pushed my achy body to run faster, and ignored my stinging lungs.

Gritting my teeth and pushing even harder, I turned the corner to find myself in Karakura's community park. The park was crowded with people, though they seemed to be all grouped together like they were looking at something. I spotted Tatsuki at the back of the crowd and ran up next to her, letting my body kneel as I gasped for air.

"Jeez- you- could of- waited!" I panted, raising my head to look up at Tatsuki.

Though when I looked up, Tatsuki was frightened, her body was shaking slightly and her eyes wide.

"Tatsuki, What's wrong?" I asked, putting my hand on her shoulder.

Something was defiantly wrong, I had only known Tatsuki for a couple of days, but I knew she wasn't the type to freak out over something like this. Something was defiantly wrong, and I could tell I wasn't going to like it.

"Tatsuki." I repeated, in a serious tone.

My eyes frowned as she turned to look at me. Her scared face quickly slid into one of determination. Putting her hands on my shoulders, she spun me around and quickly started to push me out of the park

"Tatsuki, what are you doing?" I asked her, letting her push me out of the park.

"We need to get out of here." She spoke quickly as she pushed, panic tingeing her voice.

I was slightly frightened now, but before I could reply I felt the pressure on my shoulders lessen, and the feeling from that day at school came over me again. It felt like something was trying to suck something from within me out, a sickening feeling that kept getting worse when you thought it couldn't get any worse.

Panicked from the memories and afraid of what I might find. I turned around to see Tatsuki on the ground, struggling for breath. But everyone else… was dead, just like that time.

"Tatsuki!" I screamed, kneeling down to her aid.

She was alive, but seemed to be struggling under some sort of pressure. I couldn't take it, my throat clenched in my body, making it hard to breathe, and my vision started to shake.

Not Again.

Not Again. Not Again. Not Again. I chanted over and over in my head as I helped her sit up, so we could get away from this god forbidden place.

"That's unexpected." A deep monotone voice called out. "Looks like there are some survivors."

I jerked my head up, past the mountain of bodies stood two people- no, that's wrong, they were the same beings I saw that day at school, arrancars.

The smaller on of the two stood with a blank expression on his face. His black hair drooped over his face giving him an emo look about him. The next one was twice the size of the first, he had a smug look on his face accompanied with a mask on his chin.

"Wh-What happened? Just what…" Tatsuki muttered as she tried to prop herself up.

The big arrancar started to walk towards us, a grin spread across his face. I immediately stood up in front of Tatsuki and eyed him down. My eyes wouldn't leave his presence, and the closer he got, the angrier I got.

He stopped right in front of us, looking down on us like we were some sort of insects. Every instinct was telling me to run, but I held my ground and continue glare at him, trying to mask the fear in my shaking legs.

"For my Gonzui (Soul Sucker) to fail at tearing out your soul, you must have a bit of power hiding in you somewhere! Right?!" The big guy boomed whilst smiling at his newly found prey.

"And you're standing up! You must have heaps to last my reiatsu without flinching!" He boomed at me.

I felt shadows covering my eyes, these monsters had just killed all these people, and didn't give a care in the world.

"Ulquiorra, is this the one?!" The big arrancar shouted back to his partner.

"Take a better look you idiot." The one supposedly named Ulquiorra said. "Her soul is about to break by simply being close to you, and the other one has no reiatsu I can feel what so ever. They are merely trash." He stated, his face emotionless, "Kill them, Yammy."

With that, Yammy raised his fist into the air and brought it down towards me. A crossed my arms and braced for impact. From the corner of my eye, I saw someone dash in front of me and take the attack. The guy wore a Karakura High school uniform, and had some sort of armour thing on his arm that was blocking the arrancars fist. I took in his bulky build and dark skin, I knew who it was. It was my classmate, Sado Yastora.

"Chad." I whispered.

Another figure appeared to my right, standing there in a protective stance. She was also wearing our school uniform and had long auburn hair. She was also my classmate. Inoue Orihime.

My mind was racing, why were they here?

"Inoue! please take Arisawa back." Chad stated as he faced his opponent. "If you can please help her Katori-san." He said directly to me, though he kept his eyes on the arrancar.

I nodded and helped Inoue pick up Tatsuki and move back, as Chad initiated in the fight against the arrancar.

We got about five metres away from our original spot till Inoue gasped, leaving Tatsuki to me, she ran forward towards the arrancar. I turned around to see where Inoue went, but the sight made me sick to the stomach. Blood was gushing out from Chad's right arm, making my eyes widen in shock and fear. These arrancar were defiantly not on the level of the ones I fought, they were freakishly strong!

A normal person would have ran away and hid by now, but whether it was a good thing or a bad thing, I was not a normal person. I had too much anger built in me to walk away like nothing happened.

I slowly walked up to the manically laughing arrancar, taking one step at a time, tightening my resolve to kick this bastards ass.

"Huh, you want to die next?" Yammy laughed, lifting his fist into the air for another attack.

I felt the power tingling throughout my body, making me feel invincible. Our fist's collided, sending the wind around us out in a blast. I didn't even take one step back, the blue aura thing was around my arms. I could see that Yammy was surprised.

I went for a kick, but he grabbed my leg and threw me into a tree.

"Tch. Don't come near me if you can't fight kid." Yammy yelled back at me, making me spit out blood in disgust.

I pulled myself up and out of the rumble to see Yammy targeting Inoue, I was about to go over there till I saw her create a shield thing. She then used a projectile attack, and for a split second, I was relieved that someone could stand a chance! But that was crushed when her attack was smashed into nothingness by the arrancars big fists.

"Inoue!" I screamed as I lurched towards her.

"What was that? a fly?" Snickered Yammy.

Inoue's face was a mixture of shock and fear, and mine was the same.

Yammy took one big step towards Inoue, towering over the top of her.

"What should we do, Ulquiorra? Should we take her back to Aizen-san since she used some unusual techniques?" Asked Yammy.

"No. There's no need." Replied Ulquiorra. "Kill her. Yammy."

"Stop!" I yelled running as fast as I could towards Inoue.

Yammy had a big grin on his face as he brought his fist down.

'I won't make it!' I thought, clenching my teeth together.

Through my peripheral vision I saw a black figure moving faster than I could blink. when I stopped to see what it was, I saw a Shinigami with a huge sword and Bright... Orange... Hair.

"I-Ichigo." I stuttered.

There, standing before my eyes, was my orange hair friend pointing a sword at the arrancar. I blinked a few times to make sure my eyes weren't playing tricks on me, but I was seeing the real, authentic Ichigo.

"Sorry, I'm late, Inoue, Amber." Ichigo said, glaring daggers at the arrancar.

"I'm sorry Kurosaki-kun." Mumbled Inoue as if she was about to cry. "If only I... I was stronger..."

"Please don't apologise, Inoue." Ichigo said, turning his head back to the arrancar. "I'll defeat these guys and then... It'll all be over!"

Ichigo took his sword in his right hand and rested his left hand on his arm.

"Bankai!"

A gust of wind blew outwards, so fierce I covered my eyes from the whipping wind. When I regained my vision, I saw Ichigo with a smaller black sword held tight in his hand, and a dark look over him.

"Inoue, Amber, back away." He said in a calm yet fierce voice.

Inoue backed away immediately, but I was in awe at the whole situation, but I eventually backed away to where Inoue was healing Chad, and watched Ichigo fight.

Ichigo had blocked Yammy's attack with ease, and managed to cut his right arm completely off! He was on a completely different level, the amount of power he had was amazing. I didn't lay my eyes off the fight for a second, or more rightly stated, I couldn't, I just couldn't look away.

But just as Yammy started to draw his sword, Ichigo started acting strange. Inoue must of realised this too. I quickly stood up and stumbled a few steps towards the fight. In a split second Yammy had put his foot deep into Ichigo's chest and kicked him a few meters back. I got ready to run but Inoue bet me to it.

"Kurosaki-kun!" Inoue yelled, as she desperately ran towards Ichigo.

"Stay back, Inoue." Ichigo screamed, panic infiltrating his voice as he got a fist to the head by Yammy, sending him crashing to the ground.

Yammy slapped Inoue across the face, sending her flying and landing on her side.

"Inoue! Ichigo!" I shouted running towards the two individuals.

"Inoue!" Ichigo screamed again.

"Shut up." Bellowed Yammy raising his fist and smashing it down on Ichigo.

I jumped in front of Ichigo and crossed my hands over my face, taking the blow for him. The power was so fierce I was winded and struggling to stand.

"Amber! What are you doi-"

"Shut up." I screeched, getting attack after attack, my heals digging deeper and deeper into the ground.

Yammy punched me straight in the gut, pushing me over onto the ground next to Ichigo, the taste of blood soaking my mouth.

"It's over, brat." Yammy spat, pulling back his fist for one final attack. "I'm going to crush you!"

 _I can't move, my body won't move!_

I heard his fist collide with something, but I didn't feel any pain. Maybe I was so far gone that pain no longer reached my brain. The dust started to clear, revealing a shadowy figure of a person.

"Hello! Sorry I'm late, Kurosaki-san, Katori-san."

I looked up to see none other than Urahara Kisuke, as well as another women I had never seen before.

"What! People just keep popping up and getting in the way." Yelled Yammy "Butting in like this means you want me to kill you first, right?"

Just as Yammy went in for a punch, the women, grabbed his arm and threw him into the air, making him roll a few times when he collided with the ground.

The woman continued to fight, while Urahara-san walked over towards the two of us.

"How are you two feeling?" He asked.

"Wait! Urahara-san... you know Amber!" Stuttered an out of breathe Ichigo.

"I'll answer all you questions later, can you two please swallow this."

He gave us both a white pill, I obediently swallowed it, hoping that it would somehow take the pain away that was burning through my body.

I suddenly heard a huge explosion coming f the side of me, I turned around to get a face full of dust and debris, when it cleared I saw Urahara defending off an attack the arrancar had made.

"I didn't even see him leave!" I whispered quietly.

Who are you?! What did you do?!" Growled Yammy. "How were you able to do that to my Cero!?"

"Just as you saw it." Urahara replied. "It would of been dangerous for everyone around me if I simply repelled it, so I just negated it by hitting it with a similar attack."

I looked to see a giant crack in the earth, stretching for about fifteen metres.

"How about I show you again if you don't believe me?"

"Nake, ( **Cry** )"

"Benihime!"

A crimson red light shot out of Urahara's blade, heading directly for the arrancar. but before it could hit the other arrancar that had been standing in the sidelines appeared in front of his comrade and repealed the attack with his bear hands. The attack dissipated into dust, leaving everyone in silence. The smaller arrancar then elbowed his comrade in the stomach, hauling him back a good few meters. He then proceeded to open some sort of portal.

"I've completed the mission assigned to me." He said. "I'm going to report to Aizen-sama. I'm going to tell him that the Shinigami he had his eyes set on is trash that isn't even worth killing."

And with that, the portal closed and the two arrancars disappeared into darkness.


	7. Deep Thoughts

_"How about I show you again if you don't believe me?"_

 _"Nake, (_ _ **Cry**_ _)"_

 _"Benihime!"_

 _A crimson red light shot out of Urahara's blade, heading directly for the arrancar. but before it could hit the other arrancar that had been standing in the sidelines appeared in front of his comrade and repealed the attack with his bear hands. The attack dissipated into dust, leaving everyone in silence. The smaller arrancar then elbowed his comrade in the stomach, hauling him back a good few meters. He then proceeded to open some sort of portal._

 _"I've completed the mission assigned to me." He said. "I'm going to report to Aizen-sama. I'm going to tell him that the Shinigami he had his eyes set on is trash that isn't even worth killing."_

 _And with that, the portal closed and the two arrancars disappeared into darkness._

* * *

 **Chapter Seven – Deep Thoughts**

* * *

It was silent, not even the trees seemed to make a sound, there was only silence. The silence was screaming out what just happened. I had no time to think about it at the time of the attack, but now that the adrenalin had run out, it was clear as day.

Bodies upon bodies lay around me, silent bodies, just like the air around us, but they screamed what happened. It had happened again, just like the time at school. There souls had been sucked out, leaving there bodies no more than empty shells. It had happened, again, I had been there, again, and I couldn't stop it, again.

"Okay everyone." Said Urahara, as he turned his zampaktou back into his usual cane. "We should all go back to my shop to get healed up."

The comment about healing caused me to notice the dull ache in my arms. I started to rub them in hope to ease the pain, but they just seemed to get worse. I would be more surprised if they didn't hurt though. They were hammered at least five times by that arrancars fists.

The thought of leaving and getting away from this place was bitter sweet feeling. I desperately wanted to get away from the memories this place brought back, but I felt partially at fault, and that I would be running away from my problems if I leave.

My eyes lay on the countless bodies that lay around me, I couldn't help it. All of them had their lives cut short, but this is normal isn't it? The spiritual world is like that, taking lives with no explanation, it's just my blind eyes couldn't see it.

 _"-Amber."_

I couldn't see it.

 _"-Earth to Amber."_

My blind eyes couldn't see it.

 _"-Amber!"_

I felt someone flick my forehead with there fingers, making me jerk my head back out of reflex.

"Itai! ( **Ouch!** )" I wailed, putting my hands up to my aching forehead in order to stop the throbbing pain. "That hurt you idiot!" I yelled, not bothering to look up at who hit me.

I eventually looked up to whoever thought it was a good idea to hit me, making sure I put on the most intimidating glare I could muster. It was Ichigo who had inflicted the injury to my forehead, wearing his signature frown on his face.

I started at him, and he started back. None of us even flinched. Not sure if he knew, but this had now turned into a competition, and I wasn't about to lose.

Ichigo broke first, giving me an eye roll before staring back at me. "Come on, where going to Urahara's, so get up." Ichigo said, giving me his hand to take.

I took it and puled myself up with ease. I brushed the dirt off my skirt and took a glance around, the bodies were still here, but it seemed everyone else had left, even Tatsuki wasn't here.

"Where is everyone." I asked, taking another glance around the park.

"They already left." Ichigo replied, gazing into the distance. "I stayed to give you a ride back."

This caused me to frown. No matter what anyone thought, I was no damsel in distress. For people who were close to me, they knew I was the most stubborn person alive.

"Why! I can walk myself." I scoffed, looking in the other direction.

He sighed and started to scratch his head.

"We're using Shunpo (Flash Step)." He replied.

This caught my attention.

"Shun- what?" I asked, turning back around to face him.

"It's called Shunpo." He repeated "Just get on. It'll be easier to show you." He said whilst bending down to make it easier for me to get on.

I didn't want to, I defiantly didn't want to. But it would be a lie if I said this _Shunpo_ didn't catch my attention. So I slowly got on to his back, putting my arms around his neck so I wouldn't fall off.

He didn't give me any notice before we lurched forward through the skies. I felt like I had just swallowed my tongue and my stomach had come up into my throat. I tightened my grip around his neck and grabbed onto his Shihakushō with my finger tips. Looking around, I saw Karakura town flying passed me, in all different types of colours and patterns.

Ichigo slowed down and started to jump from building to building. I silently thanked him, the shunpo was starting to make me sick.

"Sorry about before." Ichigo said as we leaped from building to building.

I adjusted my arms and peered over his shoulder. "What about?" I asked.

He was stayed silent and turned his head away from mine. "You got hurt."

I looked down at my arms that had started to turn a purple colour.

I rolled my eyes. "Why are you apologising, I was the one who stepped in."

He jerked his head to look at me. "But it was my fault you got hurt!" He stated.

"Why?" I asked, causing him to come to a stop on the roof of an apartment building.

"Well… Because..."

I jumped off his back and made my way in front of him. He eyes were fall of despair, like the whole world rested on his shoulders. He looked… just like me.

"Ichigo." I started, looking him directly in the eye. "I'm sure you've heard this a million times before, but you can't blame yourself. If you don't like it, than do something about it, don't wallow in self pity and expect everything to get better."

He looked down at me, he was maybe two inches taller than me, I was pretty tall for a girl, so I was staring my look to look up at him, and could still keep my confident look.

"Do something about." He repeated solemnly, causing me to give him a nod.

"You don't have to forget about it overnight, or even ever. But use it as motivation, don't let it bring you down, push through it and show it who's boss."

It was silent as he soaked the words in, but he gave out a small chuckled and smiled, he gave a legitimate smile.

"I guess you right." He replied, turning his head to look over the town. "So… when did you learn to give motivational speeches like that?" He asked turning back to me.

"Taught it to myself." I replied. "I can give advice to others, but can't give it to myself. So if I ever get into a slump, it will be you who has to bring me out, and I'll do the same if you ever get like that again. Do we have a deal?"

I held my hand out. Ichigo looked over it before letting out a smirk and taking it.

"Deal." He replied, as we shook hands.

I gave him a quick smile before climbing back onto his back. It was amazing how close we had gotten in such a short amount of time, but I guess that's what the supernatural world will do you you. Ichigo to me was like a long lost friend. Once you met again, your relationship would mend at the snap of a finger.

"Let's go." I pestered him. "I want Tessai-san to give me that magical kido healing."

Ichigo took off, letting us lurch through the sky, from building to building.

"So you do know Urahara-san." Ichigo said as he continued to jump on the rooftops.

I gave a slight nod. "Yeah, it's a long story."

* * *

"And that's my story." I finished, letting out a deep breath.

I had practical just told my whole life story to Ichigo. I told him about my family back home, my friends, though I glossed over the part when they... died. But I couldn't help but spill everything out the him, like he was some kind of therapist. The words would fall out of my mouth and nothing was there to catch them.

Inoue, Chad and Tatsuki had all been healed before we arrived, and were placed in guest rooms so they could rest. I was in a room with Ichigo, Urahara-san and Tessai-san. I was being healed by Tessai-san while Ichigo was being healed by Urahara-san.

The healing kido really was a life saver, the bruises on my arms had diminished substantially, and I no longer felt like throwing up my insides.

"I'm sorry." Ichigo muttered as I finished my sorry.

I looked over to him and let out a long sigh. "It's okay, I can't do anything about it now, I just have to move on."

Ichigo only nodded in response, which I was glad for. I wasn't in the mood to talk. Bringing up my friends had resurfaced bad memories that I wanted to lock away. Yes I was blaming myself, but like I said to to Ichigo, I can give advice but I can't take my own.

I welcomed the silence that flooded the room, and took it to calm my mind, but it was immediately shattered when my eyes lay on Ichigo's feet, or more correctly where Ichigo's feet were suppose to be.

I stared wide eyed at the ground, were Ichigo's feet should have been, was replaced with air. It was like his feet had been cut off, and it was spreading. The clear mist crept up his legs, engulfing his lower legs and knees into nothingness.

"Ichigo." I said hesitantly, earning a grunt from the boy. "What's wrong with your legs?"

Ichigo gave me a confused look. He looked down at his legs, than up to me, than repeated the cycle again.

"What are you talking about? Nothing's wrong with my legs." He replied, making my eyes widen in shock.

How couldn't he see it, his legs were disappearing right in front of him and he didn't seem to notice.

His legs had fully disappeared now, leaving only his torso which appeared to be floating in mid air. I just couldn't look away.

"Wha..what do you mean." I stuttered. "Your legs a disappearing."

This earned a confused look from Ichigo, and a concerned look from Urahara-san. I didn't understand, it was like I was the one going crazy, but I could clearly see his legs disappearing into nothingness.

"Katori-san." Urahara-san said, keeping a strong gaze on me. "Tell us exactly what you see."

"Well..." I started, taking a hitched breath. "His body is disappearing, it's up to his chest now."

Ichigo gave me another confused look while Urahara-san continued to stare with analytical eyes.

"Your telling me I'm the only one who sees this!" I yelled out as Ichigo's head disappeared completely from my vision. "Ichigo!" I yelled, lurching towards where his body was meant to be, though I was pulled back by strong arms, who held me steady.

I turned my head to find Tessai-san holding me, an unreadable expression plastered on his face.

"-Katori-san" Urahara-san spoke, causing me to jerk my head.

"His gone Urahara-san. He disappeared!" I said, showing that I was clearly panicked.

Urahara's eyes softened and he put a hand on my tense shoulder. "Katori-san, Kurosaki-san is fine, you just can't see him."

I peered over Urahara-san's shoulder, to take another look at Ichigo, but I still couldn't see him.

"So his still there?" I asked.

Urahara-san nodded his head and took his hand off my shoulder. "Kurosaki-san is a spiritual being, though you could see him for a short amount of time, it seems that time has run out, just like that time with Abarai-san."

I relaxed as I soaked in the information. It wasn't that he was gone, I just couldn't see him since he was a spirit.

"Sorry." I muttered, though I was only greeted with silence.

Once again, these blind eyes couldn't see.

* * *

It was barely morning and I was already jittery and jumpy. I wasn't usually a morning person, but this morning was an exception. My night had been plagued with tiring dreams, though every normal person would go back to sleep, I couldn't. I felt ready for anything.

It was 5:30 in the morning, the sun had barely risen and the air was chilly. Inoue and Chad had stayed the night, so it was a full house. And though I should _really_ get more sleep, I desperately needed Urahara-san. He was usually up around this time, doing his wacky experiments, so I knew he was around here somewhere, the problem was finding him.

I continued to storm around the house, not bothering to calm my footsteps. I wanted him to know I was here, and fast.

"Damn, were is he now!" I muttered under my breath.

I continued to storm around, looking in rooms and even under tables, but I couldn't find him anywhere! If I didn't know any better, I would've swore he was hiding from me.

"Okay." I whispered as I took a deep breath in, preparing to yell out. "Ura-"

"-Now, now Katori-san. Don't go waking up the injured now will you?" Said Urahara-san as he appeared behind me, waving his fan in front of his face.

I turned around and glared at him. "You knew I was looking for you didn't you!" I accused him.

"No comment~"

"Ahhh." I grunted, throwing my arms up into the air. I turned back around and gained my composure, putting on a serious look. "Anyway, I need to talk to you."

"I figured." He replied. "Come this way."

He lead me into the dinning room, the place were we usually sit down and talk. I plopped myself onto the mat that was stationed under the table, Urahara did the same on the other side, though he was more graceful. I didn't want to stall any longer, so I got straight to the point.

"The technique the arrancars used was the same one they used at my school, it is called Gonzui (Soul Sucker)." I explained

"Okay, thank you for the information, I'll look into it." Urahara said, as he swiftly started to stand.

"Wait!" I shouted. "I still have more to say!"

Urahara stopped in his rise to stand. He stared at me for a good while, like he was contemplating what to do. He eventually decided to stay, slowly sliding down into his previous position. He knew something was up, but I wasn't about to let him leave.

I took a deep breath in, preparing myself for what I was going to say.

 _I'm not backing down now!_ I thought to myself.

"Please train me!" I said bowing my head down.

The room lapsed into deafening silence, sending my body cold. I waited, for what seemed like hours for an answer, not moving an inch as I stared down at the wooden table.

I needed an answer, please just say something, anything!

"… Umm…"

"Please!" I begged, lifting my head up and looking Urahara-san straightt in the eye. "Those Arrancars killed all those people and didn't even care, I can't let anyone else go through what I went through." I chocked trying to hold back my tears.

I took a couple of staggered breaths in and quickly wiped away the stray tears that had stained my face.

Urahara sat there with an unreadable expression on his face. But he seemed relax his features, giving out a long sigh.

"Very well, I'll train you."

The weight from my chest immediately lifted, making me give out a large smile, that I couldn't stop even if I tried.

"Thank you so much!" I thanked him.

I was finally moving forward, away from my past. I had made my decision last night, it was surprisingly easy to make. I was already a step into the spiritual world, so why not a few more?

"But it's not going to be easy." He said in a stern voice.

I knew that, but I was no stranger to pain. I was going to do this, nothing could stop me.

"I know." I replied "But I'll do whatever it takes!"

"Okay than." He sighed as he placed his hands on the table and pushed himself up into a standing position. "Meet me at the front of the shop in an hour."

I nodded my head eagerly and scurried out of the room to get ready. I was bouncing on the balls of my feet, eager to get started. An hour couldn't be further away.

* * *

The tapping noise from my foot echoed around the room as I impatiently tapped my foot against the cold ground. I had been waiting here for ten minutes, I was five minutes early.

I let out a sigh as I pushed off the shelf I was leaning on and started to pace around the room. Urahara-san was late, he should have been here five minutes ago.

"Sheesh, where is he?" I asked myself, as I continued to pace back and for.

I was never the most patient person alive, even as a kid I would hate waiting for Christmas morning to come, and even worse, waiting till the clock struck 6 so I could wake up my parents up and open my presents.

I shook my head, thinking about my family would always make me a bit homesick.

The sound of gradual footsteps rang around the room, making me stop in my tracks and look to the door.

"Looking for someone!" Chuckled a voice from the hallway door.

Out stepped Urahara, his hat dimmed down across his face and his fan covering his lower half.

"Your late!" I said, trying to sound as annoyed as I could. Though I was failing. Urahara seemed to notice this because he let out a small chuckle

"Don't mind minor details." He chuckled, shutting his fan and putting it away. "Come on this way." He said as he lifted what seemed to be a trap door in the floor.

I watched as the trapdoor rose, making a creaking sound, than finishing with a thud as it fell back on the floor, leaving a square opening that could fit a person easily.

Urahara stood back up and gave me a wave, a big grin on his face. I narrowed my eyes at him, and prepared myself for anything he could do. Urahara was a strange man, and if he was training me, I had to be ready at all times.

Then he did something I didn't expect him to do, though now that I think about it, it shouldn't have been that surprising. He jumped. He gave me a grin and then full on jumped down the trapdoor.

Without a second thought, I ran over to the trapdoor. I got down on my hands and knees and looked down. The hole was thin and deep, and very dark. A metal ladder was connected to the wall of the hole, and seemed to go down with the hole. Looking closely I could see a glint of light at the bottom of the hole, which must've been the bottom.

I put my mind at ease from the headache that was coming and pulled myself onto the ladder. I cautiously climbed down, making sure I had a firm grip on the metal, I shuddered to think what would happen if I fall.

Even though I couldn't see Urahara-san, I was content to think he had jumped down and _landed_ at the bottom. Though I hadn't had any proof, Urahara was no normal human, he had loads of information, and all the spiritually aware people seemed to come to him for help. I was betting on him being a shinigami, ever since he showed his sword in the fight against the arrancar, shinigami seemed like the best option.

I continued to climb down the metal ladder, making sure I didn't slip or loose my footing.

After what seemed like a lifetime I reached the last few steps. I squinted my on reflex as the light clouded my vision, making me stop till I could see again.

I waited till I was content with my vision, a few black spots danced around, but I could still see.

I jumped down, missing the last few steps and landed on the ground. My legs jolted alive on impact. Sending a numb pain throughout them, but I shrugged it off and started to look at my surroundings.

I was shocked to say the least, I found myself in a huge cavern, so huge that I couldn't see the edge. But that wasn't the surprising part. The room was a desert, sand littered the floor, boulders were scattered everywhere, even the roof was painted like sky, or I assumed so anyway, it was so well done I couldn't tell.

"Amazing isn't. Just imagine, A huuuge cavern underneath the shop." Urahara shouted from in front of me, sending an echo around the room.

"I'm not going to lie, I'm pretty impressed." I stated, as I glanced around the cavern, taking in everything it had to offer.

From behind me I heard the shuffling sound of footsteps, I turned around to see Jinta and Ururu behind me, they must've jumped down after me.

"So your down here too." I said to the two children in front of me.

Ururu hesitantly nodded her head while Jinta just grinned.

"Of course, I wouldn't miss the chance of seeing you get beat up." Smirked Jinta.

I narrowed my eyes and frowned. "Well… Why don't you come over here and say that to my fa!-"

"-Now, Now." Urahara-san sang, as he stepped between my fuming self, and a grinning Jinta. "No need for violence now is there?"

I rolled my eyes and took a step back, trying to calm myself down. I really wanted to pin him down and push his head into the sand, but I had more important stuff to do than bicker with a little kid.

Okay, lets get started shall we."Urahara said as he turned to me.

I nodded my head and pushed Jinta out of my mind. I needed to concentrate, this wouldn't be like training for soccer, if it was right, nothing I could do would prepare myself for what was to come.

Urahara-san lead me to an open space, a few boulders were scattered about at random, but other than that, it was practically clear.

"You ready?" Urahara's voice rang from in front of me.

I turned to face him and without realising it, started to bounce on the balls of my feet.

"Ready." I replied.

He kept his face steady and held his walking stick in front of him. He slowly pulled the stick apart, letting it slide into two separate pieces, a longer one and a shorter one.

He causally threw the longer part to the side, and held the shorter one firmly in his right hand.

I frowned at the stick in his hand, I vaguely remember it being a sword when he fought against the arrancars, but now it was just a short piece of wood, there was no sword in sight.

"This will be the first lesson." Urahara said as he himself, got into a ready position. "Since we don't know how your powers work, we'll just have to... Force them out!"

An evil grin appeared across Urahara-san's face making me shiver. He ran towards me with his walking stick raised in the air. I didn't have time to think about it, I just reacted. I lifted my right arm up and he slashed down.

My arm stung with pain and I clenched my teeth. I could feel something wet drip down my arm and onto the yellow sand. Looking down I saw a puddle of red, it was blood, my blood!

I clutched my arm in hopes to stop the pain, though it just seemed to make it worse. The cut, or whatever it was, continued to sting and leak blood everywhere, more blood I had ever seen in my life.

I wiped my bloody hands on my clothes accepting they where now ruined. I ripped a bit of cloth from my stained shirt and attempted a DIY bandaging. It was easy in my mind, but it was soon proven difficult when I had to use my teeth to pull the knot tight. But eventually, I called it good enough and let my blood soak into the newly acquired bandage.

"Why didn't you dodge?" Urahara questioned. "I commend you for blocking, but why not dodge? Flesh doesn't go well against a blade."

I hesitantly stood back to get some distance between us. If what he said is true, than that thing he's holding is a sword, I just can't see it.

"I can't see the blade." I replied, trying to hide the quiver in my voice. "All I see is a plain piece of wood!"

"Oh I assure you this is no plain piece of wood." He said, twirling his 'sword' in his hand. "But I'd advise you better become able to see it soon, or… You'll die."

The phantom blade came swinging in my direction before I had seen it move. I jumped back, but it nicked my cheek, sending a steady steam of blood dripping down my chin.

I focused my attention to predicting where the blade would hit. I would give myself lots of room, but it still seemed to slice me up, no matter how quick I moved.

"You need to see it, not imagine it." Urahara said with a frown, upping up the speed of the strikes.

I vaguely recognised my thumping heart and wheezing breath. I needed to finish this quickly or I would die by default, without doing anything. Like Urahara-san said, I needed to see it, not imagine it. I had been predicting the strikes the whole fight, and it wasn't working. I needed to take a risk, it was rather do, or die.

I took all my courage and lurched forward into harms way. I needed to see the blade.

I ducked… _See it._

I dodged… _See it._

I blocked, causing a large cut in my other arm… _See it._

I gritted my teeth as the cane came straight for my face, this was it, I will rather see it or die.

Time seemed to slow, a shimmer in the air was all I needed. I ducked under the sword and rolled away.

"I can see it!" I shouted, pushing myself up with a jump in my step. It felt great, like the lock had been opened relieving me of all my spent energy, I felt invincible.

The slashes kept coming, but I dodged them with new found strength and speed. I knew I had a crazy grin on my face, but I didn't care, I just let my body move and dodge like I had done it my whole life, it felt exhilarating.

With my new found confidence, I pushed my power into my fist, making them shake with glee. A bright blue aura surrounded them, only becoming denser and denser as I pact more power into them.

Urahara slashed his sword down the centre of my body, but with a simple sidestep, I dodged. I pushed forward and went for a punch in his stomach. He went wide eyed as there was no way to dodge my attack, I had got him, I had finally got him!

But suddenly, my chest gave out a burst of pain, causing me to slam on the ground at lost of what just happened. But it didn't stop there, something inside my chest seemed to crack sending shards of glass to pierce my body from the inside out.

I screamed out in pain, as the wrenching pain intensified, setting my body alight. My inside felt like it was burning while my skin felt cold as ice, and it was pushing against my skin, as if was going to explode at any moment.

I puled myself into a ball hoping it would stop the pain, but it just seemed to get worse. My eyes stung with hot tears that spilt on my icy skin, but it wouldn't stop, it just kept getting worse.

Blue flames seemed to rise around me, shooting up to the sky. The didn't feel hot or anything, it felt more like it was smothering me, like they would drown me.

I felt a strong pressure on my back, like a hand or something. It seemed to suck all my pain away till it had all disappeared, leaving me in silence, my body twitching from remaining pain.

I rolled onto my back and lay there for a good five minutes. I slowed down my breathing and let my heart settle down before doing anything, whatever that was, I don't want to trigger it again.

I started of moving my fingers and toes, than slowly all my other body parts till I was satisfied I could sit up without triggering the pain.

I pushed my self up, but found someone helping me. I looked up to see a concerned Jinta and Urahara kneeling in front of me, as well as Ururu to the side helping me sit.

"Wha...What happened." I asked, struggling for breath.

"Your reiatsu went out of control." Urahara said with a serious look.

"My... reiatsu?" I asked, earning a nod from Urahara-san. "But I thought I didn't have reiatsu."

Urahara-san shook his head. "We couldn't feel your reiatsu, but that didn't mean you had none."

I hesitantly nodded my head.

"Though I must apologise for all that pain back there, I needed to be sure my theory was correct."

"Theory?" I managed to croak out.

"Yes, I managed to get the results from the test I conducted. What I found was, remains of kido.

"Kido." I asked. "Like what Tessai-san uses to heal?"

Urahara-san shook his head. "A different kind, it was a binding kido called Bakudo."

"A kido… for binding?"

"Yes, this bakudo is a seal (封, _Fū_ ) and a very strong one at that, I have never seen something so complicated."

"Okay, but what does this seal have to do with me?" I asked.

"The seal, well… It's in you." Urahara said, causing my mouth to drop.

"In me." I whispered to myself letting the words sink in. I have a seal, _in_ me.

"The seal is encased around your soul, and by the looks of it, it's been there your whole life."

I was to shocked to say anything, _a seal around my soul?_ That's crazy talk! But more importantly, who put it there? And what exactly was it sealing?

"The seal around your soul blocks your reiatsu." Urahara explained. "Your meeting with the arrancars caused it to crack, letting bits of your reiatsu out, enough for us to see, but not feel."

I nodded my head and let him continue.

"At times you were in danger, the seal would weaken, allowing you to see spiritual beings for a short period of time. Then, when you were out of danger, it would heal itself regressing you back to a normal human who can't see spirits."

I nodded my head, as far fetched as it sounded, it made sense, It explained why I could only see spirits sometimes and not others. But that wasn't all, the look on Urahara-san was a red flag, there was something else.

"But that's not all." I added.

Urahara shook his head. "You see, the seal never fully healed, every time you were in danger it would weaken, heal a bit, but still be weaken. In time, it will break."

"But that's a good thing isn't it? If it breaks we wont have to worry about it."

"No." Urahara muttered. "You saw what happened before, that was the seal breaking."

I shivered at the reminder of the pain.

"The seal broke so suddenly it caused you power to burst. You body was literally burning up from the inside. If I wasn't there to take in the reiatsu, you would of died."

I let out a deep breath, I had been so close to death, and I hadn't even realised it.

"So now what?" I asked with a shuddered breath.

Urahara stared at me with his grey eyes for a good long while before replying.

"The seal is way to complicated for me to undo, so we are left with two options. The first is to stay the way you are, and just hope you don't run into any danger."

I frowned at the proposal, I sounded like a big gamble, to not run into any danger for the rest of my life sounded risky. And if it had almost broke, it would be terribly thin, who knows what could trigger it."

"What about the second option?" I asked.

"Well, that one's a bit of a risk too." He confessed.

He stood up from his kneeling position and starred down at me with a stern gaze.

"You second option, is… To become a Shinigami."


	8. Shattered Shaft

_"The seal is way to complicated for me to undo, so we are left with two options. The first is to stay the way you are, and just hope you don't run into any danger."_

 _I frowned at the proposal, I sounded like a big gamble, to not run into any danger for the rest of my life sounded risky. And if it had almost broke, it would be terribly thin, who knows what could trigger it."_

 _"What about the second option?" I asked._

" _Well, that one's a bit of a risk too." He confessed._

 _He stood up from his kneeling position and starred down at me with a stern gaze._

 _"You second option, is… To become a Shinigami."_

* * *

 **Chapter Eight – Shattered Shaft**

* * *

My gaze became distant as the words left his mouth. At first I thought I didn't hear him right, but the seriousness that surrounded his body told me otherwise.

I pulled myself out of the dreamy state that I had gotten myself into, and stared up at him, as if asking if he was serious. But his look didn't change, his face remained stern and serious.

"Oi boss! Are you sure about this?" Jinta asked as he turned to Urahara-san, sprouting a shocked and worried look. "You know if you do this, she could turn into a-"

"-Yes I am well aware of the consequences." Urahara-san cut in before Jinta could finish. "But, in saying that, I am confident that Katori-san will be able to do it." He muttered.

Jinta looked to Urahara-san, than back to me. He defiantly looked worried about something, and his words sent chills down my spine. _'She could turn into a-'_ a what? Though the first option of waiting for the seal to break sounded risky, this option didn't seem to good either. Exactly _what_ would I turn into?

"So, Katori-san." Urahara-san called out to me, bringing me back to reality. "The way I see it you have two options." He said as he held up two fingers. "The first is to live out your life and wait for the seal to break, which will no doubt end in death. The second option, is to become a Shinigami, which may or may not end in your favour, but that's all up to you." He smirked. "So, will you wait it out? Or, will you take a risk?"

Everyone's eyes turned to me for my answer, and I immediately went cold. I was making a decision that would effect my life and none of the choices seemed good, but which one was the best? Should I wait it out? Or take a risk?

I took a few deep breaths to calm my jumpy nerves, and looked up to Urahara-san with resolve. I had made my decision, no second guessing, I was making it, and going through with it.

"Have you made your decision?" Urahara-san asked me.

I slowly nodded my head. "Yeah." I replied, looking up at him with a determine look. "I will… become a Shinigami."

Urahara-san gave a slight grin while Ururu and Jinta exchanged looks. "You sure about that Katori-san? Becoming a Shinigami won't be easy."

I hauled my self up into a standing position, and gave Urahara-san a lop-sided grin. "Urahara-san, since when has anything in these past few weeks been easy?"

Urahara-san gave out a light chuckle before shuffling a few steps backwards. "Okay." He grinned as he out his walking stick and started to spin it around his index finger.

His walking stick stopped suddenly in align with my face, horizontal to the ground. It was maybe an inch away from between my eyes, making my go cross eyed in an attempt to look at it. With my crossed eyes, I could briefly see a fuzzy imprint of a skull with blue flames surrounding it on the base of the cane. The whole ordeal made me confused, why was Urahara-san holding a cane up to my face, and why put a picture on the base of the cane where you wouldn't see it?

All my questions were answered as he pulled his walking stick back and quickly pushed it into my forehead. My body became strangely light as I slid backwards, even though my feet were still firmly planted on the ground. I felt like I was shedding out of my skin, and that wasn't far from the truth as I saw _my body_ fall to the ground.

There in front of me, was _my body_ , slumped on the ground like a rag-doll. I was standing here, but my body was slumped there.

I hesitantly went over to the body and turned it over so it was lying on it's back. The sight was a tiny bit disturbing. It wasn't like looking in a mirror were you were bounded by glass, I was looking directly at myself, with nothing stopping me from reaching it like a mirror would. I moved, she didn't, she was separate from me.

Though, she did have one thing I didn't have, A silver chain coming from the centre of her chest. The chains were fairly thick and seemed to go somewhere. I followed the links in the chain till I came to a stop, at the exact same sight of chains implanted in my own chest.

I dropped them in shock, making the clatter against each other as the fell to the ground.

"So it seems you found The Chain Of Fate." Urahara-san smirked as he walked up to me.

I grabbed the chain once again a studied it closely, though noting seemed to jump out at me. It was just a chain that seemed to connect me, to the body on the ground.

"What is it?" I asked. "And what did you do to me?"

"This." Urahara said as he tapped the chain with his cane. "Is called The Chain Of Fate. It is what connects you soul to your body, and as for what I did to you, I just pushed you out of your body."

I continued to turn the chain over in my hand as I listened to Urahara-san's explanation, nodding my head every now and again.

"So." I muttered, still not looking up from the chain. "Right now I'm in the form of a soul, and that's my body over there, and this chain, is connecting my soul to my body."

"Ding, Ding! You catch on quick." Urahara sang as he waved his fan in front of his face.

I rolled my eyes at his antics and let go of the chain.

"Though the box is new." He stated, as he peered closer to the base of my chain.

I looked down to see a blatantly obvious red translucent box surrounding the chains that were attached to my body. It had a faint glow about it and was covered with cobwebs of cracks.

"I didn't even notice it." I muttered, looking up at Urahara who seemed to have a thoughtful look on his face. "What is it?"

Urahara broke out of his concentrated look and stood up to face me. "I'm not sure, but if I had to guess, it would have to be the kidō seal that we were talking about."

I nodded my head. It would make sense for it to be the seal. It was weak and streamed with cracks, A simply tap could set it off. Deep down, I was secretly glad I chose the option of a Shinigami. The seal looked too fragile for my tastes.

"Alright." I sighed, looking back over to Urahara-san. "When do we start?"

A smirk was the only warning I got. "How about... Now!"

I gust of wind blew passed me and in a split second an axe was hurling to the ground in front of me. The axe fell on the chains, stopping for a second, but than continuing and snapping a link into two. Tessai retreated the axe and I just stared at my broken chain as it clattered on the floor. I was too shocked to say anything.

My arms then snapped behind my back and I was sent hurtling to the ground, though the ground never came. I was falling, my body was turning and without my arms I had no balance. I could briefly make out mix of browns and greys that rushed by me, dirt and stone maybe.

I hit the ground hard, sending shocks of pain through my body. My face was scratched by the dirt, but I was stuck with my face in the dirt.

" **Bakudo no. 99, Kin!"** A deep voice chanted behind me. "Until the lesson is over, your arms shall be sealed!"

Using my body, I managed to manoeuvre myself into a kneeling position. I turned my head and looked behind my shoulders to see Tessai-san sitting in a lotus position, eyes closed and hands held together in a complicated pose.

"Katori-san!" Called Urahara from above. "Please climb back up here in that condition!"

I looked up and was blinded by the light. The roomish thing I was in was circular, having walls reach around 25 meters in the air. The top was opened up to the light, with Urahara's head poking from the side. There was no doubt, I was in a hole, and a really big one at that.

Urahara jumped down and landed in front of me, his fan covering his face.

I glared daggers at him, I had no idea what he did but I knew it was bad.

"Oh, why the stare Katori-san?" Urahara asked with a sheepish grin on his on his face.

I drew my eyebrows together and continued to stare. "What the hell did you do." I seethed out.

"I just started your lesson, Shattered Shaft." He grinned, causing me to raise an eyebrow. "The aim is to climb back up, that's all you have to do."

"No." I said through gritted teeth. "That's not the whole story, what's the catch?"

Urahara let out a creepy grin as shadows covered his eyes. "Right to it ehh? Okay I'll tell you." He said, edging closer to me.

"Right now, your Chain Of Fate is broken, meaning you can no longer return to your body, to put it bluntly, your dead."

I was hit with confusion, but it changed to anger just as fast as it came.

"What! Why didn't you tell me that before!" I yelled at him.

"Oh, I told you we would be playing a game of life and death! Are you saying you've given up?" He asked, causing me to become silent.

"From the point of severance, the chain will corrode till it reaches your heart, it will then rip apart, you will become a hollow, and it will be The End." He explained.

Urahara walked forward and squatted down in front of me. "Though a normal plus soul can last months or even years without starting corrosion, at the bottom of this 'Hole Of Despair' is a gas that will activate the self-consume process. The time left for you until the self-consume process is 72 hours at most, or three days."

"Three days!" I sputtered out. "Are you trying to kill me!?"

"Of course." He muttered. "That's if you give up."

I gritted my teeth and looked away, I turned back to say something, but I was met with blinding pain in my chest. I crumpled over and started screaming at the burning that bubbled throughout my body. Looking down I saw the last link on my chain eating the next. It had grey teeth and was drooling saliva as well as munching off metal, is was the definition of disgusting.

"Get it off! Get it off! Gah!" I shrieked, trying to get away from the chain, but it was like my shadow, I couldn't run away, it would follow me.

I continued to watch in horror till the eating slowed down and the chain fell back to the ground. I was silently debating which one would be better, blowing up by breaking the kidō seal, or being eaten alive by these chains.

But my energy was drained, I had no idea what I was suppose to do, and it looked like Urahara-san wasn't going to help me, but I had to try. I desperately looked up at him, pleading for some answers, like a hint or something.

Urahara-san sighed as he gave into my look. "There is a way you can go back to your body and not turn into a hollow."

I quickly jerked my head towards him, the small ray of hope was all I needed to keep going.

"What is it?" I asked, desperation in my voice.

He turned his back to me, and started to walk away. "The only way, is to turn into a shinigami, and climb out here alive. Or else… we'll have to kill you, the hollow you become."

He turned back around and stared at me with his piercing grey eyes. "One last thing. If that kidō breaks, it will be the end of you."

And with that, he left me alone in the deep hole, before I could see him move.

* * *

Time seemed to stand still at the bottom of this hole. The sun never came up or went down, and there was defiantly no clock on the wall. I could lay there for five minutes, but in reality it could've been an hour, there was really no way to tell. But there was one way to tell that time was passing, and that was when the chain was going through encroachment. The chain corrodes every seven minutes, than sleeps. During that time, it's so painful I can't even move. Sleep has been staggered thanks to the chain and it's chewing up precious time when I could be escaping. I have tried everything I can think of to become a Shinigami and escape this hell hole, but my idea's always fall short. Meditating is out of the question since the encroachment breaks my concentration, if I try to bring out my mysterious power, the kidō will start to crack, and let's not even talk about the time I tried to _run_ up the wall.

In other words, I was stuck. I had no more ideas. I didn't even know how much time I had left. There was five chains left, so that gave me some reassurance, I wasn't going to turn into a hollow quite yet.

I rolled onto my back and stared up at the ceiling, trying to wrack my brain for more idea's, but none seemed to come. I let out I deep sigh and continued to stare up at the fake blue sky.

Movement caught my eye from the edge of the hole showing two figures looking down at me. As they came closer, I realised from their small frames that it was the children from the shop, Jinta and Ururu. They both ran down the wall with ease and landed on the ground like it was nothing. I didn't move from my position, I let them come to me. Jinta stood in front of me with a cocky grin, while Ururu stood a little behind grin, with a plate filled with different types of fruit.

"So... You hungry yet?" Jinta asked, sprouting a cocky grin.

I thought about it for a moment, it wasn't like I was starving but it would be a lie to say I wasn't a little bit hungry. Not enough to go out and get food myself, but hungry enough to eat if food was placed in front of me.

"Yeah." I replied. "I guess I am a little bit hungry."

At those words, Jinta's smile slid down and his eyebrows drew into a frown. His eyes seemed to target me in a way that sent chills down my spine. Something was wrong, something was defiantly wrong.

I flipped over onto my stomach and pushed myself up so I was kneeling on my knees. His look didn't change, he looked worried, and maybe a bit scared. At what, I wasn't sure, but behind Jinta, Ururu was also wide eyed in concern.

"What's wrong?" I asked, hoping it wasn't anything to serious, that, or they were playing a prank. But their looks looked to authentic to be fake, they knew something I didn't, the question was what?

I waited patiently for their answers, my anxiety climbing every second they stayed silent.

Jinta moved first, taking a deep breath before he spoke. "Your not meant to get hungry as a soul." He explained. "If you do, it is a dangerous sign that your a step away from turning into a hollow."

My breath hitched and my anxiety raised tenfold, panic steaming into my voice. "Ho... How? I still have five chains left!"

Jinta turned his head and darted his eyes away from me. "You probably don't know since time is hard to tell down here, but it has already been 72 hours. It's actually surprising that you lasted this long, some early ones start turning at 70 hours."

He turned around and started to walk away, Ururu hot on his heals.

"Also" he said as he turned back around to face me. "The Final Encroachment is nothing like the others."

Just as the last words left his mouth, my chest started to throb in agonising pain meaning the encroachment had once again began. But something seemed wrong. The pain started to intensify, more so than it did before, burning through my skin and spreading out through my blood. I clenched my teeth together to stop myself from screaming and clenched my eyes tight, but the pain kept on coming. Something was defiantly wrong, there wasn't this much pain before. I pulled open my eyes and started down at the chain to find it eroding like I thought, but it wasn't just on chain, it was _all_ of them.

I stared at the horrifying scene of the links chewing and gnawing at each other, creeping up the chain in a matter of seconds. I was stuck in a trance of shock, unable to move or do anything as the chain ripped my skin creating a perfect, circular hole in the centre of my chest. The kidō barrier shattered into pieces as my skin peeled off and fell to the floor, turning to dust on impact.

The pain abruptly disappeared for a second, leaving me staring down at the hole in the centre of my being. The price was short cut as I felt my body start to shake with pain. I opened my mouth to scream, but it came out crackly as white liquid filled my throat and dripped onto my face. The same white goo streamed from my eyes like tears of waterfalls, sticking to my skin. My body was felt as if would explode at any second, and I was finding it hard to breath with the liquid in my throat. My eyes started to droop done, forcing me under and I tried to keep them open, afraid of what would happen if they close. But they were to heavy. My vision faded into black, and I was under.

* * *

 _"Hello... Hello~"_

I felt cool water rush by my body, a small wave hitting against my legs every now and again. I was laying down on my back, swaying with the waves that surrounded me, or I think they were waves, my eyes were still shut tight.

I felt no need to open my eyes, it was peaceful here, it felt safe here, and at the same time, strangely familiar. Curiosity got the better of me though. Where was I? What was I doing? What happened to all the pain? Was the hole still in my chest?

I forced my groggy eyes open and was immediately hit by a bright light, but I didn't look away. I was met with colours of pinks, oranges and purples all mixed together in perfect synchrony. I blinked my eyes to get rid of the foggiest and found myself looking up at a sky, with white clouds rolling past with the breeze. I was caught in a trance that I couldn't look away from, the sky was beautiful to say the least.

A splash sound came from behind me and water droplets fell onto my face, bringing me out of my trance. I tried to look at the source but I couldn't see, so I pulled myself onto my knees with my hands and turned around to the source of the sound.

About two meters in front of me sat a boy on a large rock with his feet dipped into the water, swinging them back and forth. He looked about 12 years old and had long black hair that hung off his face, stopping at his neck. He had piercing reddish, brown eyes, and had a small smile placed on his lips.

"Hey." He said with a grin, kicking some more water up into the air with his bare feet.

I water droplets splashed onto the still water, creating a circle of ripples that distorted the pattern of the sky that fell on the water. Though I wanted to answer the boy, the place seemed to pull me in. The ground was layered in still water that moved with the breeze and reflected the sky's hues of pinks and oranges perfectly. Thick trees sprouted from the water, holding autumn coloured leaves and grey rocks spread out at random, some big and others small. A cool breeze also blew through the air, swishing the leaves on the trees and moving the water along slightly.

I turned my attention back to the boy. He wore a dark grey kosode that he left un-tucked that reached to just above his knees. He wore dark blue pants that seemed short in the legs and tied the entire outfit together with a light blue sash that was tied off at the side.

"It's good to see you Amber." The boy said, giving me a soft smile.

I was abruptly spun into confusion, this boy knew me, but I was sure I hadn't seen him before.

"It's good to see you too." I replied, trying not to be disrespectful to the boy. "Though I'm sorry, I don't think we've met before."

The boy paused for a moment before quickly nodding. "That's right, this is our first time meeting like this."

Now that was weird, this is our first time meeting but he knew my name, and not to mention he sounds like he knows me as a person too.

"Umm... How do you know my name then?" I asked.

The boy titled his head to the side and gave me a confused look. "What are talking about? You know my name too."

Now I was really confused. "Sorry, I don't know your name."

The boy looked a little hurt but soon shook it off. "You should." He said tapping his index finger on his chin. "Well maybe you just forgot. That's okay, I'll tell you again. My name is _!"

I couldn't hear him.

Silence came over us and the boy looked a little hurt. "So that's why." He mumbled, falling back so he was laying on the rock. "I thought you would be able to hear it by now, but I guess I was wrong."

"Sorry, it's my fault." I found myself saying. "I just miss heard, if you say it again I'll be able to hear-"

"-No." He muttered, cutting me off. "You need to hear with your soul, not your ears. Your soul just isn't ready to listen."

I looked at him in confusion as he hauled himself up to his feet, and jumped off the rock, making ripples as his feet hit the water.

"By the way. How can you sit like that?"

I looked down at my feet to see my reflection staring back at me, but my reflection seemed to trigger something. The water was clear, clear enough to reflect the sky with perfect clarity, but one thing was missing... the bottom. It wasn't a floor covered in water like I had originally thought, it was water and water only, I was sitting on water!

The 'ground' suddenly disappeared beneath me and started to sink fast. The clear water engulfed my body as I got pushed down further and further by the pressure. I strained my muscles against the force and pushed myself to swim upwards, though it was tiring, I was hardly getting anywhere and my legs and arms were screaming in pain

Something grabbed my ankle and started to pull me down, I struggled to break free, but the grip was too strong. I was flung down further into the water and losing oxygen fast. I looked up to the sky, seeing the oranges and pinks that reflected of the water, and the rays of lights that shone through the water. I human figure blocked the light above me, it swum down to me like it was the most natural thing in the world and put it's face in the light. The person in the shadows revealed himself to be the boy from before, he must of swam down after me, and also must've been the one to throw me deeper into the water

"Don't worry." The boy said. "You still have the strength to swim, so you won't turn into a hollow just yet."

"A hollow!" I blurted out before I could stop myself. I quickly covered my mouth with my hands, watching the bubbles from my mouth rise within the water.

My lungs weren't filled up with water though, in fact, they were filled up with air. I hesitantly took my hands off my mouth and breathed in. Air filled my lungs like a joyous reunion, I could breath!

The boy seemed to notice my calmness and gave me a smile. He took off down into the depths of the water and I followed. It got darker the further we went, but not dark enough so we couldn't see.

We reached the sea floor, which sprouted coral and all sorts of underwater plants. The boy didn't set foot on the ground, instead he stopped a few meters above and let himself float, I did the same after him.

"We mustn't rest now." The boy said as he turned to me. "We have time, but it will soon run out, you'll have to work fast if we are to come out of here alive."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I can't explain, maybe another time, but not now."

I nodded my head and dropped the questions for now, but all of sudden the world started to violently rumble, uprooting the plant's and bringing down the rocks and trees from above. As the objects were set to glide through the water, they turned into small white boxes, about the size of a basketball, but that wasn't the only change. Directly below us, the ground opened up and started sucking in water and boxes like a vacuum. We surprisingly weren't effected, but everything else was, the water levels were dropping fast and the boxes were being sucked in with it.

"So it's started." The boy muttered through clenched teeth.

The boy turned to me and looked me straight in the eye with a serious look, and though he was so young, the frown didn't look out of place, it almost looked natural.

"This world is falling apart and time is running out. Find the Shinigami powers embedded in you soul in one of these boxes, and become a shinigami." The boy said, as he started to fade away.

"Wait!" I yelled out. "How do I find it? What if I don't?"

"The boy looked up at me with sad eyes, and than looked back down again. "I can't tell you how to find it, only you can figure that out for yourself. And if you can't… you will become a hollow."

The boy gave me one last look, and faded out of sight, leaving me alone with hundreds of boxes that were also dispersing by the second.

I had to control my breathing to stop myself from panicking. 'Find one box out of hundreds,' how was I meant to do that?!

I clenched my teeth as I saw more and more boxes being sucked down the hole, I had no way to know if any of them were the one with shinigami powers in it, they all looked the same, it was like finding a needle in a haystack, but instead of a needle, I was looking for a bit of hay.

I shut my eyes tight and started wracking my brains for ideas, but to my disappointment, my brain didn't want to function, it was like the answer was there and really obvious too, but a wall was blocking it. But what would the answer be? How can I find something I can't see?"

I widened my eyes. _"That's it!"_

I grinned to myself as if I had just won the lottery. The answer was so obvious, I wasn't sure why I didn't think about it before. I could do it, I knew I could. I'd done it before, so I why couldn't I do it again?

I closed my eyes and cleared my heads of any thoughts, I took a deep breath and focused on feeling the energy around me, trying to latch onto any feeling I could find. And I felt it, a tingling sensation spread through the right side of my body, and seemed to pull me in that direction. I opened my eyes and swam to my right, letting the sensation pull me towards my goal.

Finally I saw a red glint of light in the distance. I pushed my limbs to swim harder, pushing away the white boxes that blocked my path.

I pushed the last white box out of my way and came to a box covered in a translucent red barrier, which reminded me of my kidō seal. I reached forward and lightly touched it, making it shatter into tiny pieces revealing a white box like the rest. I reached out and touched it again, but instead of shattering, the lid opened up to reveal a hilt of a sword. The hilt was blue with a piece of red string tied to the end.

I went to go and touch it, but movement out of the corner of my eye caught my attention. I turned around quickly to find out what it was, the figure stepped out of the shadows and showed his face. To my delight, it was the boy from before.

"You found it!" He grinned "Good work, hopefully next time, you'll be able to hear my name."

I gave him a smile, but stopped as I thought about the situation I was in. Since I could now relax, my mind was reeling in questions like there was no tomorrow. I still don't know who the boy is, or why I can't hear his name, and I don't know what this place is either.

I opened my mouth to ask but once again, the world started to violently rumble, more so than it did before. I looked up and noticed the water was now only a meter above my head, it had dropped this far already? I hadn't notice.

The boy frantically turned to me with a look of fear on his face. "Pull me out!" He yelled. "Hurry up and pull me out!"

I grabbed the blade and pulled it with all my might, it slowly started to slide out but it was to slow, I wouldn't make it.

"Hurry!" The boy yelled.

I put my last ounce of strength in one final pull and the blade came free, blinding me in a pillar of light.

I fell back at the sudden release and felt myself tumbling and spinning. The constant swirling made me sick to the stomach, and I seemed to have lost my sword along the way. I held my body tight as I continued rolling through the blinding light. It felt like hours till I stopped, though I knew it was only seconds. I seemed to slam 'back' into my body, filling it's my limbs with mine. My headache immediately disappeared, and I vaguely recognised I was now standing up.

I opened my eyes but it didn't feel like that, it almost felt like I opened someone else's eyes and was now looking through them. On instinct, I reached behind me with my left hand and grabbed hold of a sword and pulled it out. Once it was out I smashed it against my face, letting 'it' break… 'it'? No, it was a mask, a mask coverer face, and I broke it.

With my right hand, I reached up to my face and threw away the remaining parts of the broken mask, letting my _own eyes_ adjust to the light in the first time in which felt like forever.

The light faded and I was back in Urahara's training room with Urahara-san, Jinta and Ururu staring at me with wide eyes and shocked faces.

I gave them a small smile a let out a sigh of relief, I was finally out of danger.


	9. My Name Is

_The boy frantically turned to me with a look of fear on his face. "Pull me out!" He yelled. "Hurry up and pull me out!"_

 _I grabbed the blade and pulled it with all my might, it slowly started to slide out but it was to slow, I wouldn't make it._

 _"Hurry!" The boy yelled._

 _I put my last ounce of strength in one final pull and the blade came free, blinding me in a pillar of light._

 _I fell back at the sudden release and felt myself tumbling and spinning. The constant swirling made me sick to the stomach, and I seemed to have lost my sword along the way. I held my body tight as I continued rolling through the blinding light. It felt like hours till I stopped, though I knew it was only seconds. I seemed to slam 'back' into my body, filling it's my limbs with mine. My headache immediately disappeared, and I vaguely recognised I was now standing up._

 _I opened my eyes but it didn't feel like that, it almost felt like I opened someone else's eyes and was now looking through them. On instinct, I reached behind me with my left hand and grabbed hold of a sword and pulled it out. Once it was out I smashed it against my face, letting 'it' break… 'it'? No, it was a mask, a mask coverer face, and I broke it._

 _With my right hand, I reached up to my face and threw away the remaining parts of the broken mask, letting my own eyes adjust to the light in the first time in which felt like forever._

 _The light faded and I was back in Urahara's training room with Urahara-san, Jinta and Ururu staring at me with wide eyes and shocked faces._

 _I gave them a small smile a let out a sigh of relief, I was finally out of danger._

* * *

 **Chapter Nine - My name is...**

* * *

A gentle breeze rustled my newly formed Shihakushō and made a whistle through the silent air. In front of me, Jinta, Ururu and Urahara were frozen in shock, Jinta looked the funniest, but oh how I mentally laughed at Urahara, the great Urahara-san shocked? No way! But it was true, that award went rightfully to me, Amber Katori, the girl who made Urahara Kisuke shocked. Ha! Believe that!

My lips tugged up into a smirk as I stared at the three of them, and rightly so, they did chuck me into a hole and left me to die. I'll let the kids off though, they were only doing what they were told, but Urahara-san wouldn't get off as easy, oh no, he defiantly would get his fair share of beatings.

I brought my attention back to the three in front of me. Urahara-san and Ururu seemed to have gained some composure but Jinta was still staring at me like I was a ghost her something. His eyes were wide and his mouth was trembling as if he wanted to say something but couldn't form the words.

"Yo...You didn't become a hollow." Jinta stuttered, unable to form his words right.

"Of course not!" I replied almost immediately, blowing a piece of hair off my face. "Who do you think I am?"

This seemed to make Urahara-san chuckle slightly as he began to walk over to me. Ururu and Jinta followed, Ururu was lagging behind Urahara while Jinta ran out in front, passing both of them and heading straight towards me.

"Glad you made it out in one piece Katori-san." Urahara said as he stopped in front of me. "I honestly didn't expect you to make it out aliv-."

I cut him off mid sentence by throwing a piece of my mask at him, which hit him square in the face to my delight. He stumbled back a few steps and clutched his face where the mask hit.

"Katori-san! Your so cruel!." He wailed, peeking at me through the gaps between his fingers.

I clenched my fist together to stop myself from beating him to a pulp, I had just survived death and he was acting like it wasn't a big deal. If he thought I would be easy on him, he had another thing coming.

"I'm cruel?!" I yelled, stomping my foot down in anger. "Your the one who trapped my in a hole and left me to die!"

He peeked through the gaps in his fingers once again, than took his hands away completely and grabbed a hold of his fan.

"Left you to die?" He questioned. "No No. This technique is a one hundred percent success rate!" He cheered.

"One hundred percent- How many poor people have you made do this?" I demanded from him, getting right up in his face.

He pushed me away with his fan and took a few steps back. "Let me see." He muttered, looking up at the sky as if he was wracking his brain to try and remember. "Including you... two!"

Urahara-san gave me his signature grin and I used all my will power to stop myself from slapping him silly.

"Well let's forget about that now shall we?" Urahara-san proposed as he shut his fan tight. "No point dwelling on the past."

I scowled at him even though I had to agree with him, the past could never be changed, this was the path I had chosen and I had to stick with it. Though all in all it went pretty well, 'well' as in I didn't turn into a hollow or blow up. I guess I had to be grateful to him, even though it infuriated me, once again Urahara-san was right.

Jinta walked up to me and started poking my arm. "Huh looks like you really did turn into a Shinigami." He said as he continued to examine me. He seemed weary of me for some reason, though I had no idea why.

He stood back and continued to stare at me. I stared back at him in confusion, he seemed analytical. Though most people thought Jinta was just a brute that bullied Ururu all the time, he was actually very perceptive. While Ururu was more in-tuned to spiritual pressure, Jinta was more in-tuned to little mundane things that seemed out of place. It seemed both children got the best of Urahara-san's qualities.

"You look different." He said.

I titled my head in confusion, I wasn't sure what he meant. I looked down at myself to see I was now wearing a black Shihakushō and had a brown strap from my left shoulder to my right hip as well as grey cloth hanging off my body, but that couldn't be what he meant.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

By this time both Urahara and Ururu had started examining me, it felt kind of awkward, being examined like I was some art piece, but I held my tongue and let them.

"His right, you have changed." Urahara-san said as he stood back next to Jinta. "Your hair has turned black and your eyes have turned brown, I think your a bit shorter too."

I quickly grabbed a strand of hair from my ponytail and examined it, he was right, my hair had turned black, and now that I think about, it they all seemed a bit taller too.

"Will it turn back to normal? I asked, not too sure if I liked this new change.

"Not sure, maybe it's permanent, maybe it's not, I honestly have no idea." He replied.

I dropped the strand of hair and let out a deep sigh, it was just one surprise after the other with me.

"So what now." I asked.

"Well, how about we get onto the next lesson?" Urahara proposed.

I thought about it for a moment, you didn't need to by a rocket scientist to know that Urahara's lessons were _bad news_. But I doubt he would let me get away without doing them, so in reality, I had no choice.

"Fine." I replied turning around to Urahara. "What do I do?"

He just smirked and pointed to his hat. "Please knock off my hat with your sword."

"Sword?" I muttered in confusion, till I remembered the sword I had in my left hand. "Ahh my sword." I said as I changed my grip to my right hand and held it with both of my hands.

The sword was just like the one I saw in the box. It had a blue hilt and had a piece of red string attached to the end, but that wasn't what stood out the most about the sword. The sword was huge; long as I was tall and wide to fit the proportions. I wasn't sure if I liked it, the hilt and the ribbon were fine, it was just the size that bothered me.

"What wrong with it." I asked.

Urahara-san tilted his head to the side. "Wrong? What do you mean."

"I mean look at it!" I said as I pointed to the blade. "You can't tell me this looks like a normal sword."

He narrowed his eyes and squinted at the blade long and hard. "If you mean by how large it is, I'd guess it's because you have no control on your reiatsu."

"Control?" I repeated. "And reiatsu? I thought I didn't have any!"

"Oh you defiantly have reiatsu." He replied. "Ever since the kidō seal disappeared, your reiatsu has been released, and due to lack of control, is leaking everywhere, which is the exact reason why your sword is so large, it just expands and holds its shape."

"Hmm, I don't really get it." I muttered as I looked over my newly acquired sword. "But all I have to do is knock off your hat, right?"

Urahara-san grabbed a hold of his cane and pulled I apart, showing the blade in which I couldn't see before.

"That's if you can."

I clutched the hilt of my sword tightly, and swung up. The long sword had length on my side, but even with the advantage Urahara calmly stepped back without having to deflect my blade with his.

I continued to slash and slice at him, not worrying even in the slightest of hurting him, I was in the zone, there was no pulling me out now.

I felt elated as I pushed my arms to swing the sword down, I had felt anxious at first, but the more I engulfed myself in the battle, the more comfortable I felt, in fact, I was enjoying it. It was like I was born to do this.

It was a pattern, I would swing my zampaktou and Urahara would dodge. I couldn't even get him to simply deflect. I continued to swing, edging forward each time, each time getting closer. Finally I was there, I swung down hard and fast, leaving him no other option but to lift his sword up and deflect. A loud clang sound resonated throughout the room like music to my ears, this battle was finally getting started.

Urahara-san was the first to disengage in the battle of our blades, he took his sword from me, and hopped back a few paces to create some distance between each other.

"That's pretty good." He complimented me. "Even though this is your first time fighting with a sword."

"Second." I corrected him. "The first was against those arrancars."

He dipped his head down but said nothing, re-gripping his zampaktou in the process.

I re-gripped my zampaktou to get ready for phase two, but something was wrong, it felt _weird_ in my hands. I frowned down at the sword and switched my grip to my left. To my surprise it felt better, it felt _right_ , I was right handed, but this sword felt better in my left hand.

I continued to switch between the two, determining which one felt right. They both felt the same, but my left hand felt _right_ for some reason. I shrugged it off as a side effect from turning into a Shinigami, and gripped the zampaktou with my left hand.

"Ambidextrous now are we?" Urahara asked.

I looked up at him and nodded. "Yeah looks like it." I replied, bending down into a ready position.

"So... shall we continue?" I asked.

Urahara-san let his head and his sword dip down, letting shadows cover his face. The wind around him started to pick up and a dark aura formed around his body, making chills run down my spine.

"Just to let you know Katori-san." He said in a deathly clear voice, letting every word echo around in my head. "I will not go easy on you."

He charged at me with his sword raised, his eyes were focused directly on me and his sword was buzzing as if it too was ready to attack. He was serious, he was _dead_ serious.

Without thinking, I raised my sword to block his. Our blades connected sending a ringing sound echoing in my eyes. I was flung back, hurling through the air and was only stopped when my body collided with a boulder, making it smash.

I winced in pain and coughed the dust out of my lungs. The taste of dirt and blood filled my mouth, staining my taste buds in that horrid taste.

I grabbed what remained of the rock behind me, and hauled myself up through the throbbing pain, and into a standing position. I stabbed my zampaktou into the ground and lent on it for balance. I opened my mouth and gulped in as much air as I could. My heart throbbed in my chest and my arms and legs were shaking in fear, though I'd hate to admit it, I was scared, scared to the bone. His attack was that powerful after only one swipe? How could I stand up to something like that?

The familiar scrunching sound of footsteps caused me to jerk my head up and my heart that skip a beat. Urahara was in front of me, slowly walking towards me, his feet crunching on the sandy ground. I clutched my sword tighter and stared at him in fear, I couldn't help it, his presence seemed to push uncontrollable fear through my veins.

His crunching footsteps came to a stop in front of me, making me clench my muscles in fear.

"I commend you for not running, but you will need more than guts to defeat me _and_ my zampaktou." He said as he readied his sword for another attack.

I pulled my zampaktou out of the ground and held it in front of me. "You _and_ your zampaktou?" I asked, trying make sense of the situation.

"Yes, it's as I said, me _and_ my zampaktou. Look, I'll show her to you."

"起きろ (okiro/wake up)"

" **Benihime** "

Urahara's sword burst into a show of crimson red lights. The light faded to reveal a new sword in his hands. The sword now had a golden hilt and guard, a black cross shaped pattern lined the golden hilt, and at attached at the end, was a read piece of string.

I stared in awe at the sight, this was the sword he used against the arrancar, the one that spouted out red energy beams. But what did he say again? Benihime? A name? Does a zampaktou...

"...have a name?"

 _-'His sword didn't seem to be the same one I saw earlier. It looked like a normal sword compared to the big one he had just before.'_

 _-'Ichigo took his sword in his right hand and rested his left hand on his arm.'_

 _"Bankai_

 **Tensa Zangetsu** _"_

 _-"How about I show you again if you don't believe me?_

 _泣け_ _, (nake/cry)_

 **Benihime!** _"_

"A zampaktou's... name."

"Yes, every zampaktou has a name." Urahara explained. "And this is her name, Benihime." He said as he shone her in the light.

His demeanour suddenly went dark as he drew Benihime back into the shadows. "Unfortunately for you, she isn't so kind to let a sword like yours get in her way."

The sword seem to glisten with blood-lust before it was thrust down onto me. On reflex, I raised my sword horizontal to the ground, ready for the deflect, but it never came. The sword came down and sliced clean through mine, sending at least half of the blade falling to the floor.

I stared wide eyed at the falling blade, watching it clash on the floor. Suddenly a blade appeared just centimetres from my face, causing me to duck under it with speed I didn't know I had.

I jumped back, and went to deflect Urahara's blade, but once again it was sliced clean off, leaving me with only a few inches of blade.

I did the only thing I could think off, I ran. I turned around, and ran.

I ran and ran, pushing my legs and arms to go faster, to go harder, but nothing seemed to work. To my left, Urahara appeared with a blade in hand, swiping down at my left arm creating a deep gash in my arm and sending me sliding back a few meters.

"Your sword may be large, but that's all." He teased as he slowly started walking towards me.

I mustered up all my courage to fight back and swung my broken sword, but without the length it once had, Urahara jumped back, dodging it with ease.

"Like I said, there's no concentration of spiritual energy in it, it just distends and holds it shape." He snickered, as he went for another slash.

I quickly pulled my sword away, letting him only nick the top. I jumped away and started to move backwards, not wanting to be near him, but not wanting to turn my back either.

I clenched my teeth and tightened my grip on my swords, making my hands blister. There was no way he was bluffing, every strike he went for was aimed to kill. One wrong move, and my head could be rolling on the ground.

I lightly hopped on each foot, letting my body smoothly move backwards without having to take my eyes off the predator in front of me. I took a deep breath, and then another, and forced myself to loosen the grip on my zampaktou in order to calm down. I didn't dare close my eyes, instead, I relaxed my vision, moving into a state of calmness while keeping my sight on Urahara-san. I pulled myself out and felt sharper than before, I had a plan.

I stopped my feet from moving backwards, instead letting them lightly dance on the sand while I waited. Urahara slowed his pace for a moment as he looked over at me in confusion, but just as quickly as it came, he discarded it and continued to run at me faster than before.

I wasted no time to put my plan into action. I focused on the blue energy from my soul, and willed it into the sword, to engulf and strengthen it. The process was surprisingly easy, I didn't need to force it like I did before, it seemed to flow naturally.

Urahara appeared in front of me, with his sword raised and coming down. With a clang, both metals connected, pushing on each other for dominance. I grinned, my plan had worked, by forcing energy into the blade it had made it strong enough to deflect Urahara's zampaktou without getting sliced itself. But the force was still strong, and it was taking everything in me to not get pushed over.

Urahara lent in and pushed down harder. "Don't think that just because you've learnt to control a bit of spiritual pressure that you have stopped me!" He yelled, as red flames engulfed his body.

A moment was all it took for fear to infiltrate my body, causing me to hesitate. Urahara gleamed as he saw to opportunity sliced his zampaktou down, cutting clean through the blade and the guard, leaving me with only the hilt.

I stared down blankly at the piece of wood in my hand. It was over, I had no weapon, what I could I possibly do? I looked down at the plain hilt, wondering if I should throw it away. But I couldn't bring myself to do it.

I let go of all my restraints and let my body shake in fear, what more could I do?

Urahara walked up to more with a gleeful grin on his face, I tried to glare at him, with anger, or frustration, or some sort of strong feeling like that, but all that my eyes said was fear, pathetic fear.

"Now you don't have a sword, will you still attack me with that?" He asked with an evil grin "C'mon you just have to knock off my hat." He said inching towards me. "But if you dare attack me with that pathetic thing… I'll kill you."

My eyes widened and I stumbled backwards, than into a sprint, there was no doubt in my mind, he was trying to kill me, I was going to die!

I continued to run through the sand, not daring to look back. My heart throbed in my chest, my lungs wheezed for air, and my legs were like lead. Adrenalin was the only thing keeping me going, the adrenaline from fear. Fear was keeping me going, but it was also stopping me.

It was a continuous game of cat and mouse. I would run, and Urahara would catch me only for me to find myself running away again. I was scared, humiliated, and tears threatened to spill. I was pathetic.

"Is this all I can do?" I thought to myself.

'Can I only run?'

'I'm running, yet I'm standing still.'

'Why can't I move?'

'Why am I stuck in place?'

'Why?'

'Why can't I moved forward!'

 _"If your stuck in place, then why don't you take the first step?"_

My legs came to a stop at the sound of the mysterious voice. I slowly turned around as a grey cloak covered me from the outside world, behind me stood the boy from before, his arms crossed in front of his chest, and his mouth tugged into a grin.

"It's you." I said to the boy.

The boy nodded than stared back at me with his dark red eyes. "Why do you run Amber?" He asked. "You haven't you called out my _name_ yet."

"Name…?"

 _"_ _Every zampaktou has a name." Urahara explained. "And this is her name, Benihime."_

My eyes widened, a name, a zampaktou's name. If a zampaktou could have a name, they could also have some sort of conscious. This boy, he couldn't possibly be...

"You didn't answer my question." He said. "Why do you run?"

I bowed my head down and gritted my teeth. "I… I'm just too scared." I said, wincing at the words. "The fear that runs through my body has a mind of it's own, I'm just too scared."

The boy stared at me long and hard before replying. "I know you don't really believe that."

I widened my eyes at the boy as he continued.

"Fear isn't a bad thing, it's there for a reason, just like when you get hungry or thirsty, the feeling is there for survival." He explained. "To be strong isn't to not know fear, to be strong is to know fear but push through it." He said as he glanced up at me. "Fear is a necessity, but it can also be a rope that ties you down and stops you from moving forward. What you need is a balance, to know fear, but to be able to push through it."

I bowed my head down and avoided his eye's. "But how." I sniffed. "I can't do it alone!"

"Who said anything about doing it alone?"

I looked up to see his arm outstretched and a smile on his face. "I'm here" He grinned.

I took his small hand in mine and stood up.

"You may have been alone in the past, but I'm here now, so there's no need to fear." He said squeezing my hand tighter.

I nodded, as the wind around us started to pick up.

"You should be able to hear it now." He grinned. "So call it out! My name is!…"

 _"Tengetsu!"_ _(天月_ _, Heavenly Moon)_

Bright blue light erupted from the hilt making the wind whip fiercely around me. My zampaktou seemed to get heavy in my hand till and reached a comfortable weight, and the power inside me quickly rose to the surface in waves.

The wind, dust and light eventually died down, showing me standing in spot, with my fully formed zampaktou planted in my left hand.

The sword was completely different from my previous one, instead of a formal katana, it looked more like an oversized Kyber knife. It has no guard and the hilt seemed to be wrapped in grey cloth. The strands of the cloth hung from the hilt with two blue beads at the end of each piece. The blade was black with a silver edge and curved inside to the hilt on the sharp side of the blade, and curved outside on the dull part of the blade. There was also a hollow part inside the blade, where you could easily hold it instead of using the hilt.

I stared over at my newly formed zampaktou, letting it glint in the light. This one defiantly felt better than the other one, it felt stronger, and easier to use. It felt alive and seemed to hum in my hand, well I guess it was alive. Tengetsu, my zampaktou.

"Well Katori-san." Urahara-san said from in front of me. "Since you have your sword, shall we start the lesson in the earnest?" He asked.

"Sorry Urahara-san." I said as I started to raise Tengetsu over my head. "I think it's best if you dodge this."

"Pardon?"

"I don't think I can… control it yet!"

From above my head, I swung Tengetsu down, letting the blue energy around it release. The energy parted from my sword and sped off towards Urahara-san, splitting the earth apart on it's way.

The attack stopped end exploded into dust and light. I strained to keep my eyes open, looking through the cloud of dust for Urahara-san. His green hat drifted out of the dust and to the ground in front of me. I let myself fall to the ground and close my tired eyes, whatever that attack was, it took a lot out of me, but it was worth it, Urahara's hat was off, the session was over.

Urahara's footsteps echoed through the cavern as he walked over to his hat, he stopped in place and picked it up, brushing the stray dust and dirt off it.

"My hat is torn." He said as he placed the torn hat on his head. "Though I don't think you did that intentionally, did you?"

He let out a small chuckle and looked up to the fake sky. "You are defiantly one frightening kid."

"Just like him."


End file.
